NKHS+Recycling

Contributors: Patricia Cawley, Supervisor of North Kingstown School Department Food Services Dr. Walsh, North Kingstown High School Teacher Class Period: Day 1 Period 1 The North Kingstown High School Cafeteria uses countless Styrofoam trays, cups, and plastic containers on a daily basis. Styrofoam takes thousands of years to break down, and plastic takes incredible amounts of fossil fuels to produce. These products are simply thrown away, day after day. Recycling these products would decrease the amount of fossil fuels used and the size of landfills, and all this can start in our very own cafeteria. However, there are not enough recycling bins, students are not aware of what products can be recycled, and they are too lazy to separate their trash from recyclables because the trash cans are brought right to the tables. The goal of my product is to educate students about recycling, reduce that amount of non-biodegradable products are used in the cafeteria, and make it as easy as possible for students to recycle. · Contacted Patricia Cawley, Supervisor of Food Services, to get her interest and support. · Interviewed students about what would motivate them to recycle. The common response is that students would recycle more if they knew the facts and if the bins were placed in a close vicinity to the tables. · Drew up a plan of how the cafeteria can be rearranged to improve recycling. · Created informational posters to be hung on columns near the tables. · Researched alternative products that could be used in the cafeteria. This was difficult because many of these products would be very expensive. · Proposed an article idea to Emma Tonelli, a writer for the Current Wave. She had a positive reaction and said she would propose the idea of an article about recycling to the newspaper staff. · Created a poster demonstrating how all these strategies could be employed in the cafeteria. Student response to my project was very positive. At lunch I went around to many tables talking to students about recycling, and the common responses from most students were that they would recycle more if they knew the facts and if it were easier. I think my project targets both of these issues. The posters in the cafeteria will educate students and make it easy for them to know what to recycle. Hopefully, someone will continue working on my issue and put the plans I created into effect, including putting more recycling bins in the cafeteria and replacing non-biodegradable materials with more eco-friendly ones. I enjoyed this project because it gave me a chance to work with an issue I care about, that I got to choose, as opposed to a topic pre-assigned by a teacher. However, this is the kind of project I wish I could focus all of my energy on. All my other school work, extracurriculars, and social engagements made it difficult for me to complete everything I wanted to with this project, meaning I did more planning than acting. Time was also an issue, because one quarter of a school year is not enough time for me to see the changes I wish to be made. I hope that someone in the next class continues to work on my issue and hopefully implements some of the strategies I came up with. Another thing I realized as the project went on was that alot of students in other classes were working on issues similar to mine. I wish there had been some way to collaborate with the students with different teachers because we could have gotten more done working on this issue together, even if we all had seperate projects. · Public Education Created posters reminding students to recycle and informing them about what products can or cannot be recycled. These posters will be placed strategically around the cafeteria. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Direct Action My plan for Direct Action is a boycott. Ideally, students would boycott any foods in the cafeteria that are served on non-biodegradable products, such as Styrofoam trays or plastic containers. Instead, students would be encouraged to bring their own lunches in more environmentally friendly reusable containers and lunchboxes. However, it would be difficult to motivate students to go along with this plan because many students rely on buying lunch for financial reasons or simply because it’s easier. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Citizen Lobbying My plan for Citizen Lobbying would be to present my improvements to the school committee and convince them to invest in “precycling” or buying more environmentally friendly products to be used in the cafeteria. I would propose ways the precycling program would save money over the years. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The Media I wrote a letter to the editor of the Current Wave addressing the issue (attached). I am also hoping to have an article written about the issue that would educate students on how to be more environmentally friendly.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Recycling in the NKHS Cafeteria **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">January 13, 2010 **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Credits **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Introduction to the Problem **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Strategies Employed **
 * Outcomes of the Project**
 * Reflections on the Project**
 * Ways of Acting**