School Recycling

Oct 5 - UC to Collect Employees' Universal Waste

A new recycling collection is now being offered to employees at the University of California's ten campuses, making it easier for them to dispose of harmful universal waste. UC is considering expanding this program to its students. From Farha Rizvi of The Daily Californian:

In an effort to remain environmentally friendly, UC announced last week that it has adopted a new program to recycle its employees' hazardous waste.

The first educational institution in the state to partner with the California Take-It-Back Partnership, UC has expanded its recycling program for electronic and other hazardous waste.

UC has expanded its recycling service in five locations, including the UC Office of the President in Oakland.

"Here at the UC Office of the President, we come in contact with a number of people," said Grace Crickette, the UC chief risk officer. "We've already collected a lot of hazardous waste."

The university will collect waste such as cell phones, fluorescent lights, batteries and mercury thermometers for recycling.

UC is currently considering expanding the program to students on its 10 campuses, Crickette said.

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The toxic dangers of electronic waste (e-waste) continue to be a growing problem worldwide. Here in California, it is currently prohibited by law to dispose of most consumer electronics in household trash.

What You Can Do:

RECYCLE your universal waste at a collection site near you.
LEARN MORE about how you can reduce toxic e-waste.

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Jun 19 - Wal-Mart Expands Plastic Recycling Program for Schools

WasteNews.com reports that Wal-Mart will be expanding the plastic bag recycling program it first launched as a pilot program, "Wal-Mart Kids Recycling Challenge," in May 2005 in three cities and then statewide in California in January 2006. Now expanding to 12 states total, the program helps elementary school students become environmental stewards while simultaneously helping earn money for their schools.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is expanding its partnership with elementary schools to recycle plastic shopping bags.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer will begin offering its Kids Recycling Challenge program in September in 12 states: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Schools that join the program receive a 60-gallon collection bag from Wal-Mart, which encourages students to bring in plastic retail and grocery bags for recycling. The program will run from Sept. 1 through March 30.

Complete Article

Plastic bag litter and overuse continues to be a problem in California. AB 2449 (Levine) hopes to reduce plastic bag waste by offering take backs and recycling of plastic bags and will be heard TODAY, June 19, in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.

What You Can Do:

Send an email to your Legislator asking for support on AB 2449.
Send an AB 2449 support letter on behalf of your organization.

Feb 28 â€“ Learning to Recycle May Land These Kids in Disneyland

Did you know that more than 20 million Hershey’s Kisses are thrown away in one day and that their wrappers can cover over 130 square miles? Or that 375 million empty ink cartridges are thrown away every year?

Well, if you were competing for an all-expense paid trip to Disneyland through Jiminy Cricket’s Environmentality Challenge, a statewide competition that encourages thinking and acting environmentally among students, you would know these facts, too. Julia Rooney writes in DavisEnterprise.com that at Davis’s Patwin Elementary School, Linda Biewer-Elstob’s fifth-grade class has put in place a comprehensive program to educate the community about the growing problem of electronic waste. And they aren’t just researching quandary of ewaste, they are trying to solve it. The fifth-graders have set up e-waste drop sites at the school where students can drop off old batteries, printer cartridges and cell phones, which the class will recycle. The class is also trying to tackle reducing plastic and paper grocery bags that end up in landfills or littering waterways. The Environmental Challenge was started in 1994 and last year more than 40,000 California students participated. It has to make us all stop and think: What was the last thing we did to deserve a trip to Disneyland?

Complete Article