Hollister schools team up with Eagle Recycling to earn extra
money
One person’s trash is another’s treasure.
Or in this case, one family’s recycling is money for Hollister
schools.
Hollister schools team up with Eagle Recycling to earn extra money
One person’s trash is another’s treasure.
Or in this case, one family’s recycling is money for Hollister schools.
The Hollister School District is paired up with Eagle Recycling to create a district-wide recycling program. The program allows parents to drop off recyclables such as paper, plastic and glass at each school within the district, and volunteers take the items to Eagle, which then pays the school for its recycling. Some schools, such as Gabilan Hills, earn as much as $180 or more a week, said Sunny Brawley, a consultant with Eagle Recycling.
“It’s just people bringing in stuff from home,” Brawley said. “Already the district has cut its trash volume by 30 percent. It’s a great way to turn trash into a profit.”
Gabilan Hills contacted Brawley last year when teacher Mistee Koch was looking for a way to raise money for the school’s fifth-graders. Although Gabilan Hills has always recycled paper, Principal Rosa Apodaca said, parents began bringing in bags of recyclables to the school each week for the students to turn into Eagle.
“We have always had recycling cans, but now we have more of a purpose,” Apodaca said. “We are the recycling school of America.”
California school districts generate almost 764,000 tons of waste each year, according to a study released last year by the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB). By implementing an effective recycling program, districts can save money, help the environment and stress the importance of protecting the earth’s natural resources, Brawley said.
“If we recycle as adults, we can teach our kids that this is the way things should be at an early age,” she said. “I have six boys, and I tell them ‘look at how much the world has changed in the last 10 years. How much is it going to change in another 10? Where will you put your trash?'”
Parents bring in their clean recyclables to the schools, Brawley said, and from there volunteers bring the items into Eagle once a week. At Gabilan Hills, Thursday is drop-off day, and Apodaca said on Thursday morning students stand near the parking lot with signs reminding parents to bring in their recycling.
“The kids do everything,” she said. “Parents bring in bags of recycling and the kids do all of the separating on their breaks, during lunch and afterschool.”
There are now 36.5 million people living in California, and every day each one of them throws away about six pounds of trash, according to the CIWMB report. Collaborative programs such as the one between HSD and Eagle are becoming a popular way to teach students how to make recycling a way of life, Brawley said.
“Kids love recycling; they make a game out of it,” she said.
Last year, half of the money raised from Gabilan Hills’ recycling went towards the purchase of new textbooks; the rest was donated to the Hollister Animal Shelter, Apodaca said. This year, Koch is hoping to raise enough money to pay for every fifth grader to be able to go on a year-end trip to Santa Cruz Beach/Boardwalk, and Apodaca said the school’s student council will decide how to spend any extra money.
“We are looking at a few things. They may decide to buy some new planters, or we can enhance different areas for the school,” she said. “We’ve also done trips to local convalescent hospitals as well.”
Apodaca said the recycling program has helped her students become more aware of the impact each individual person has on the earth.
“Even if kids don’t fully understand the concept, through their recycling efforts they are making Hollister, and the world, a better place for their children and their children’s children,” she said. “The money is just the cherry on the top.”
Reducing consumption is the first, and most important, step to a healthier planet, according to a number of living green Web sites, including www.lighterfootstep.com. Lighter Footstep, and other similar sites, provides tips for schools and businesses on how to create a “greener” environment for their students and employees.
In addition to the recycling of paper, other suggestions include:
– Using just half of the lights in a room when people are in it and turning off lights when the room is empty. The installation of motion sensors can cut electricity usage by activating lights only when they are needed. These steps reduce carbon emissions.
– Save the air conditioning for truly hot days and use fans instead. Better yet, if a room has windows, open them for fresh air.
– Instead of leaving water running continuously, teach students to turn the water on and off when washing their hands. The average faucet releases about three gallons of water a minute, and on average, Americans waste about 30 gallons of water each day, according to Lighter Footstep. Make sure toilets are not running continuously.
– Keep thermostats set as close to the outside temperature as possible. A setting just two degrees closer to outside temperature saves more than 500 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, according to Lighter Footstep.
– Completely shut down computers, chargers and printers when not using them. Even when computers are a shut down mode, they still pull electricity.
– If possible, switch to CFL lights, which use less power than traditional bulbs.
There are several Web sites teachers, students, parents and employers can check out before beginning any type of recycling program or going “green.” Sunny Brawley of Eagle Recycling recommends the following sites:
www.cansandbottles.com – This site, sponsored by the California Department of Conservation, is very user-friendly and full of facts. It details the why, what and where of recycling, how to start a recycling program and even provides a cash-calculator to figure what you can earn from your recycling. It also has a place to order recycling starter kits for schools and businesses.
www.ciwmb.com – The official site of the California Integrated Waste Management Board includes tips on reducing waste as well as where to buy recycled products.
www.kidsbegreen.org – This interactive site introduces younger children to the importance of recycling through fun games and talking characters such as a CFL bulb and a canvas tote bag. The site also has a printable coloring book and how-to fact sheets.
