Tornadoes Recycle Project Keeps Trucking

March 11, 2014

The Tornadoes Recycle project is a cooperative effort between the school and the county to amplify recycling efforts around the district. In 2010, the EJSHS Green Team was awarded a $5,000 grant from KDHE to manage solid waste in our building. In addition to building composting sites, the grant covered the purchase of recycle bins for each teacher in the building. The Green Team was eligible for the grant because we belong to the Kansas Green Schools Network.

In the graph, you will see the building's recycle efforts for the previous 9-wk. period. The teachers compete weekly,  and the Green Team students are in charge of collecting the data. The school has recycled 1,875 lbs of paper, plastic, cardboard, and glass this semester already.

Terracycle: Can't Recycle? Then Upcycle!!

In the green team we are having a great time with recycle and Terracycle. One of the most things we are collecting from our teachers are chip bags made by Frito Lay. We really appreciate all the chip bags from our teachers. One of the most famous chip bags we are recycling are tortilla chips.
We are having so much fun with up-cycling chip bags!

England's solution to Organic Waste

Since 1993 the town of Castle Morpeth in England continues to gether household organic waste. All of this waste is composted in the town's composting facility. In order to pay for the cost of the plant, the town uses revenue from the sale of the compost. Local garden centers and families benefit from the facility.

Michigan Island composting

Michigan island is a tourist attraction.  It's landfill discards and recyclables need to be shipped by boat.  Since 1992 the community has changed its strategy of disposal from mixed-waste-stream approach to a source-separated approach. recyclables are now collected separately.                              
Compostable bags are used to collect compostable items such as food and are collected daily.  The bags are shredded and mixed with manure and decompose for about 70 days.  Then the minerals are turned over with the front-end loader.

photos courtesy of:Michigan Composting

Hi my name is Christina Elias

Hi my name is Christina Elias, I am in 7th grade, and I am 12 years old. I wanted to join green team because I not only thought it would be fun, but I also thought I could learn how paper, plastic and cardboard is recycled. My goal this year is to learn how things are recycled, and be better at recycling and help with schools recycling.