Trash Talk

Part of our evolution toward becoming a nature-based program has been a concerted effort to lessen our carbon footprint. One are of focus has been reducing and reusing to minimize trash.

Up until this year, we really thought our snack time set up was fairly minimalist: each child used a coffee filter as a plate, a small paper beverage napkin, and a Dixie cup each day for snack. We also had rolls of paper towels available for classroom clean-up. Between two classes of 20 or so kids daily, the trash we generated from activities, snacks, packaging, and service materials would mean hauling one, or more often two, full tall-kitchen sized trash bags to the dumpster every day.  That was a lot of trash for a small school!

This year we made some simple changes:

• A parent acquired a set of 144 cotton napkins from our local Buy Nothing group and donated them to the school. We gave up paper napkins.
• We purchased a set of stainless steel plates to use in place of coffee filters. We wash and dry them each day.
• Every child brings a water bottle to school every day, eliminating the need for paper cups (and making it easier to stay hydrated on the playground).
• We keep plenty of cloth towels on hand for dish drying and general clean up. We keep a laundry basket in the room to collect towels and napkins and do a load of laundry once a week.
• We acquired a recycling bin that someone was giving away.

These simple changes have had amazing results! The amount of trash we generate is a tiny fraction of that of our former selves. We only have one small waste-can in the classroom, and we often only have to empty it ONCE A WEEK! (Once we use up all of our larger plastic trash bags we'll move to using something bio-degradeable). 

These changes have also had a ripple effect. Families are switching to cloth napkins at home. Children are responsible for their water bottles and take them everywhere. We no longer use single-use plastic water bottles at events, instead opting for reusable service items. 

Next stop: COMPOSTING!