Any good ideas for a high school recycling club?

Question

At my high School in Southern California, we have a recycling club. We already have boxes in class rooms for teachers to recycle paper. We also have special trash cans for plastic and metal cans on campus.

Answer 1

Advertise that your club will be piking up recycling materials on a certain Sat. in a certain area of the city or two areas if you have enough students to help each sat. The next pick up should be scheduled a month later in another area(s) and then rotate your areas to cover the city well. One sat each mo. should be enough to keep busy students from missing other activities or family .Find a good place to sort and store your materials until you have enough to take for recycling. Best wishes and thanks for the efforts!

Answer 2

Sponsor a contest on designing useful and artistic things from recycled materials. Specify what non-recycled materials or supplies can be used, like maybe glue or tape, or force them to be really creative and make it that EVERYTHING, even paint and fasteners, must be recycled or reused. Let the creative juices flow, and give it good publicity, which will in turn give the recycling effort publicity.

Also, once we start having creative reuse, we don't need more of the recycling effort -- the part that involves collecting and melting down and re-cycling materials is less efficient than the re-use of creativity.

The recycle bin in your own home is the first place to look for creative expression. What can be done with what you would otherwise throw away?

Answer 3

Buy several trash cans, have a trash can decorating contest (making sure they are labeled plastic, aluminum, glass, etc.), then place them around the campus or any other chosen site. Also stage and advertise a recycling day (preferably a Saturday) in which people within the community can drop their recyclables off. Recycling computer ink cartridges is another option.

Answer 4

Hi! It's so great that you are wanting to get your campus involved in recycling! Be sure you advertise what you are doing... put an ad in the school paper or put up funny/creative signs by the cans with reminders that they should put their items in the proper place. It might even work to have really random posters on the trash cans. Instead of generic "Plastics" "Metals"... make the signs a funny picture of a plastic childhood toy such as a lego or rubber ducky. Metals could be a toy car. It's past midnight in Europe now, so I am not so creative... but if you do something completely unusual, they will be more likely to notice it. High Schoolers tend to like everything to be in their proper place with NORMAL, proper ways of doing things. If you do something really bizarre to remind them about recycling their items, it is more likely that they will notice that odd trash can with a Barbie Doll poster on it with a small word "Recycle Plastics" underneath.

Another idea... have a Recycled Art Auction or Contest. Recycling is more than just processing the cans and bottles that we use... but it is all about a lifestyle that says "Stop consuming so much! You don't need 10 backpacks to go with every outfit you wear! Think about the environment and the chemicals that are put into the earth to make those backpacks. Don't throw out that purse just because it's last season..." Etc.

There are quite a number of artists who are making amazing creations out of recycled goods! They make clothing, sculptures, furniture! All sorts of things! Your club could meet a few times a month to go around collecting items that people are wanting to throw out... or go to a city dump area... or call around to shops finding out who has damaged items that are going to be thrown out... and make some really cool things with them! Have an auction on Ebay or at an evening event on your campus. Invite the student body to attend so that you can show off your creativity and make the students aware of how important it is for us to get out of the mindset that we MUST have everything we want even at the expense of our world.

If you set up the recycled art contest, this might be a way to make more students aware of recycling... especially if there will be a prize for winning. :) The prize money can come from the auction, for example.

Some ideas for using the money....it can buy trash cans for elementary school and junior highs to help raise awareness among the younger students. Or put the money into protecting forests or helping people who need help locally or in other countries. :)

Good luck!

Answer 5

I like the idea of reducing consumption and reusing stuff in addition to recycling. For example, I use a ceramic coffee cup and a water bottle at work, that way I don't have to use a new water bottle from the vending machine (I don't drink too many sodas) or a Styrofoam cup each time.

Answer 6

We do a clothing swap. There are a lot of underprivilaged kids in my area. 3 or 4 times a year, local communities have a clothing swap. People can drop off clean, usable clothing two or three days before the give-away date. Clothes are then sorted by age and gender. The swaps run for a day or two over the weekend. After the swap is over, the remainder of the clothes are donated to the Goodwill or Salvation Army. We do everything from clothes to household goods. We have even had things like furniture and rec equipment at some of them!

Answer 7

Hi jumpergir..., What a great effort in helping our dear "Old Mother Earth"! My suggestion would be to go to the Elementary Schools in your area and talk with the Principal. Tell him about your "Club" it's efforts and, that you (your classmates etc.) would like to empliment the same ideas IE; boxes, trash cans etc. in their school. It would be a way of getting young children involved. The "Bonus" of that is obvious! Keep up the good work! XOXO Moonpie P.S. You might even consider asking one of your Teachers to make it an "Extra Credit" assignment!

Answer 8

I have great fun with these:

Plastic bottles and jugs can be turned into 3D room dividers, curtains and garden art with scissors and exactos. Much like beaded curtains, they can diffuse sunlight in a window, or screen a view.

My first projects were of a tropical forest themed curtain for my front porch. I cut tubular flowers from the handle area of milk jugs; green soda bottles make good translucent leaves. Any shape appropriate to your theme is possible. The new plastic paints affords unlimited opportunity for coloring. The various curves of the bottles and jugs can be utilized to add dimension, you can also bend and heat (slightly) plastic parts. Glitter glues and other sparkling embellishments are lovely in the sun.

String it all up on recycled fishing monofilament with plastic straw spacers, crystals, beads, found objects, nuts and bolts, or recycled jewelry. Imagination is key. Hang it from pruned branches or found wood, metal rods, or build a standing frame.

Most all the material can be used and it is a delightful challenge even the least skilled can partake in. It can be a group or individual project, and a fund raiser item. Also, think recycled art contest!

Also, I collect chunk packing styrofoam, carve and shape it, coat it with joint patching compound and paint. Then I assemble it into lightweight sculptural pieces for the wall or as dividers. It can also be easily skewered on dowels or rods as desired for structural stability.

I use one for mobile insulation and sound dampening on a large window... and one is a light weight nic-nak, and CD storage shelf.

Check the sports shops and fishing families for a source of monofilament (which is a hazard and terrible sight in the wilds).

Answer 9

I think one good idea is to talk to the principal about getting a large bin to place in/around the office to recycle plastic bottles. students could bring in plastic from home and also have an assemly about what can be recyled with info on long plastic takes to degrade and put up a flier near the bin reminding the students/teachers what can be recycled.

Answer 10

I suggest talking to your friends and getting together with them, and put up fliers around the school, or something. Bring in some stuff from home, such as water bottles, old newspaper, soda cans, and other things. Thank you for asking this question! For the first time on Yahoo Answers, this is actually a really good question!