Best Practice: 1.3 Waste Reduction: District/School has very little solid waste and recycles a variety of materials.

About

Landfills in the United States are overflowing. Did you know that landfills produce high levels of methane, a greenhouse gas, which contributes to climate change? While the state of Minnesota has become a national leader in waste-to-energy disposal technology, reducing consumption and recycling waste are still the most efficient mitigators of environmental stress from waste (Jossi 2016). With consumerism, convenience culture, and the ever-growing population, it is essential that we take steps to divert our waste from the solid-waste stream. Schools play a large role in Minnesota’s waste stream as there are anywhere from dozens to thousands of people disposing of their day-to-day waste in school buildings. According to a study conducted in Hennepin County, the majority of school waste consists of food or other organic materials and recyclables (Cioci & Farnan, 2010). If these items can be diverted from landfills and waste-to-energy facilities, schools can help in making a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, while educating future generations in proper consumer and disposal best practices.

Vision and Benefits

These best practices for waste reduction aim to create a future where Minnesota schools are a minimal contributor to the state’s waste stream. With less waste going to landfills and incinerators, less greenhouse gas will be released into our atmosphere. Not only can schools participating in these best practices benefit the environment, but they can benefit themselves through reduced waste-related expenses and increased community connections. One of the hardest obstacles to overcome in waste reduction is human behavior, but with dedication and education, schools can bring about behavioral changes in their staff and students.

Who's Doing It?

Current Leaders in Waste Reduction

• School of Engineering and Arts, Golden Valley MN–Green Ribbon Schools 2020: 56% solid waste diversion rate through recycling and food-to-animals recycling

• Forest Lake Area High School–Green Ribbon Schools 2019: active sorting of recyclables, special education program students collect recycling from classrooms as part of their skills learning curriculum

• Moreland Arts & Health Sciences Magnet–Green Ribbon Schools 2018: LIVEGREEN Club that promotes recycling, composting, and conserving resources, 63% waste diversion rate

• North Park Elementary School–Green Ribbon Schools 2018: tracking the percentage of landfill diversion, overall waste reduction of over 90%, 86% waste diversion

• River’s Edge Academy School–Green Ribbon Schools 2018: introduce environmental initiatives during staff professional development programs, student-designed educational signage placed around the school, 73% diversion rate

The Datasheet for each Best Practice is a resource you can use to plan actions you want to take, implement those actions in a project, and submit documentation for the project along with a project story form. [ Coming soon: Download the BPA-1.3 Waste Reduction Datasheet Excel file to start planning.]

Implement Best Practice Actions in a Project

Select Best Practice Actions (BPAs) to work on and complete

Review the list of actions that can be taken to shift your district or school toward waste reduction. Start with documenting practices that are already being done at the school. Choose those practices that best suit the opportunities and other considerations at the school. (You may wish to use the datasheet for this best practice to support your planning once available.)

A. Management Process BPAs

A1. Waste Audit

• Conduct a baseline waste sort or audit considering sources (i.e. recycling, organics, and trash) and volume of waste

• Measure the levels of contamination in all 3 categories; if conducting the audit before establishing an organics recycling program, determine the volume of organics currently going into the trash

  • Measures: pounds or gallons, percent contamination; documentation of audit

A2. Waste Output Monitoring & Improvement

• Track the weight or volume of trash and recycling. Determine the ratio of trash to recycling to organic waste; look to your waste collection services to determine weekly output from all categories of waste.

• Monitor the total volume of your dumpsters on a weekly basis to ensure that they are being used efficiently. If dumpsters are being emptied when they are only partially full, reduce the frequency of your collection service.

• Determine sources and rates of contamination.

  • Measures: measure in gallons or pounds; schools should aim for 75% solid waste diversion through both recycling and composting

A3. Cost Analysis

• Conduct a cost analysis to determine areas in which money can be saved from improved waste management, such as decreased hauling rates as trash is taxed in most areas while organics and recycling collection are not. See this MPCA study for an example and more information on the costs and benefits of waste management.

• Identify new costs such as composting materials.

  • Measure: documentation of cost analysis

A4. Waste Reduction Plan

• Develop a plan based on the audit and output monitoring findings to address specific areas of concern.

• Set a zero- or low-waste goal, such as a 75% diversion rate, then break that goal down into smaller, progressive steps.

• Track the school’s progress via tracking sheets and keep the community informed so they can celebrate each accomplishment.

• Develop a school purchasing policy that considers the material lifecycle, prioritizes the use of recyclable/reusable products, reduces overall purchasing, and requires products at their end-of-use to be recycled, donated, or otherwise made available for reuse.

• Reward yourselves when each goal is met! Every step is important along the way.

  • Measure: documentation of the plan, tracking sheet, total % solid waste diversion from landfill or incinerator

B. Waste Reduction BPAs

B1. Reduce Single-Use Consumption

• Reduce the purchasing and use of single-use plastics. Avoid offering single-use food-service items such as plastic cutlery, styrofoam trays, and plastic water bottles. Reduce paper consumption through increased use of technology.

• Conduct life cycle analyses of needed materials and choose options with better, longer cycles

  • Measure: year 1 waste audit % rate compared to year 2 waste audit % rate

B2. Reuse, Donate, & Exchange Materials

• Encourage students and staff to reuse materials as the first course of action. Then, create exchange programs between students, staff, and district buildings for items that are no longer in use but still of good quality such as classroom supplies and furniture.

• Donate unwanted but usable materials to areas outside of the school district. Consider donating building materials to low-income housing developers and unwanted supplies to schools outside of the district or local nonprofits-the Minnesota Materials Exchange is a resource for making these connections.

  • Measure: analysis of the number of reusable materials, types of waste that are reusable

B3. Recycle

• Have an established recycling system for materials accepted by your city recycling program or private contractors such as paper, plastics, and aluminum.

• Have recycling bins in every classroom and at accessible and frequent locations throughout buildings.

• Identify and get in contact with an e-waste recycling collector near you for any electronic waste like computer monitors or fax machines that cannot be exchanged or donated

  • Measure: recycling rate=% of overall waste being recycled vs. thrown in the garbage, Schools with a 30-60% recycling rate rewarded (Sustainable Jersey Schools); recycling dumpster size x number of collections per month x percentage full when emptied or collected (Green Ribbon Schools)

B4. Address Food Waste

• Choose the best way for your school to keep food waste out of landfills, whether through an organics collection service, an on-site “backyard” composting system, or food-to-livestock recycling.

• Consider ways to reduce food waste at the source, such as a share table or by allowing students to choose their portion sizes, as well as donating leftover non-perishables to a local food shelf.

  • Measure: Does the school have a system for recycling/composting food waste? Compare % food waste to previous years

B5. Construction and Demolition Waste

When building, renovating, or deconstructing school buildings:

• Salvage and reuse as many pre existing materials as possible, donate or sell materials when appropriate.

• Purchase new materials that are durable and expected to last for coming generations, as well as locally produced, reclaimed, recycled and natural materials.

• Create a plan for waste so that the majority of it can be diverted from landfills.

  • Measure: percentage of waste diverted from landfills (recycled, salvaged, donated), documentation of waste plans

C. Behavioral Campaign BPAs

C1. Establish a “Recycling Team”

• Find a group of interested staff and students to help with waste reduction initiatives as well as lead by example for others in the school.

• If your school has a green team, coordinate plans and actions with them

  • Measurement: Number of students & staff or % of school population involved

C2. Provide Educational Resources

• Use in-class announcements, curriculum, school-wide announcements and assemblies, and extensive, accessible signage throughout the school and at waste stations to properly educate students and staff on the best actions for them to take to reduce their solid waste.

  • Measure: contact hours (avg. per student), “exposure”

C3. Make Changes to the System

• Implement rules and regulations to be enforced throughout the whole school in order to facilitate these behavioral changes, e.g. requiring that every classroom have a recycling bin or enforcing recycling and composting in the cafeteria via waste station monitors.

• Offer incentives and recognition for meeting standards such as recognizing the classroom with the least amount of food waste on a monthly basis

  • Measure: effectiveness evaluation, implementation

C4. Make These Actions Accessible

• Provide signage and other educational materials in easy-to-understand language and translated into prevalent languages for the community. The use of images will also provide context clues for younger students and people with limited English proficiency.

• Don’t overestimate the background knowledge of staff and students, it’s likely that everyone will have different prior experiences and some will need to be educated from even the most basic level. Additionally, consider the community’s cultural and political beliefs when implementing these actions and providing education.

• Conduct surveys for staff and students to provide feedback on how in-touch they feel with these actions.

• Make connections between waste management initiatives and other community action initiatives and/or issues of current events, such as health and safety or climate change, to kick-start community members through their pre existing concerns

  • Measure: feedback from surveys

Submit Annual Review

The annual review for this best practice includes

• Confirming that Best Practice Actions are still active. (Eg. are programs still in operation and working? Are event or time based actions repeated each year?)

• Amending the documentation with any changes

• Adding any lessons learned from the prior year to share with others.

To submit the annual review, send in the BP 1.3 Datasheet with updated calendar year in the update column to reflect which BPAs are still active.

GreenStep Advisor

• Contact Jonee Kulman Brigham for assistance

GreenStep Resource Organizations

• Explore GreenStep Resource Organizations for this best practice based on types of assistance they offer. As more resource organizations join, there will be more offerings and an ability to sort by type and topic of support.

Online Resources:

• Local Resources - Waste recycling and composting options vary by location. Check with your city, county, or waste and recycling hauler to see if they can help you find out what is available in your area (and if they'd like to be a MN GreenStep Resource Organization. Some already have.)

• Hennepin County - Hennepin County School Recycling page, “Best practices for organics recycling in schools” guide, Hennepin County Organics Recycling “How-to Guide for Conducting a Waste Sort”.

• MN Pollution Control Agency - “Digging Deep Through School Trash” report on a waste composition analysis of public school waste in MN, "School recycling tool kit” and “School recycling: cost and benefits” webpages, E-waste recycling guide.

• B3 Guideline M.3: Waste Reduction and Management - B3’s waste reduction and management guideline regarding sustainable building/construction practices.

• MN Department of Education - Share table resources on the Food Safety webpage regarding implementation of a share table for food waste reduction.