April 7th, 2018
21st Century Classroom
Jill Talks Trash
By Alisha Sawyer
St. Albans City School Director of School Enrichment
Students at St. Albans City School hosted some special guests for lunch this past week- Jill, a talking trash can, her brother Jack, a blue recycling bin, and their pet pig Scrappy, a compost pail. The trio of waste receptacles visited students to give some reminders about where different kinds of waste should be going. There have been some changes in meal patterns and services that have increased the amount of waste generated around meal and snack times in both classrooms and the cafeteria. These changes meant that it was time to reteach some practices around the building.
The St. Albans City School Stewardship Committee has been developing public service announcements and messaging to share with their peers and staff to encourage environmentally friendly practices around our school waste. In 2017 the theme of the annual Stewardship Day was “Reduce Reuse Recycle”, in 2018 we will continue in that vein with our theme of “Go Green.” Students have been visiting classrooms and making friendly observations about what ends up in the trash cans rather than the compost pails or recycling bins. There have been school wide activities with cafeteria trash sorts that have offered some interesting observations about what is in there that shouldn’t be - and helping to add awareness that we have some room to improve.
Students in the cafeteria were quick to identify items that should be composted: foods that you didn’t finish eating, a peel from an orange or a banana, the rest of your milk. Recycled items should include: cardboard, paper, plastic bottles or containers - but, as helpful 3rd graders reminded us, they need to be rinsed out first. Then we had fun listing off the things that should NEVER find their way into the trash can, items like metal utensils and plastic cups (that we can wash and reuse) those kinds of things mixed into the trash or the compost serve as a reminder that often we need to take the time to: Stop. Think. Sort. We have an extra step in reducing waste here at St. Albans City School - our share fridges and tables. If students have uneaten/unopened food it can go into the share fridge where anyone who might need a little extra to eat or drink is welcome to help themselves to it. This lesson of being mindful about reducing waste and offering up something you might not want to someone who does is a practice that works well here for our students.
Jill was excited when students gave examples of items that should be composted, she rewarded kids with high fives, handshakes and a thumbs up. Groups of students walked up together, some a little unsure of themselves at first, but they quickly felt comfortable when they were able to “talk trash” with Jill. Jill said, “Students at St. Albans City School have a long history of getting this right, I’m sure with some reminders and practice we will get back on the right track.”
Jill Talks Trash
By Alisha Sawyer
St. Albans City School Director of School Enrichment
Students at St. Albans City School hosted some special guests for lunch this past week- Jill, a talking trash can, her brother Jack, a blue recycling bin, and their pet pig Scrappy, a compost pail. The trio of waste receptacles visited students to give some reminders about where different kinds of waste should be going. There have been some changes in meal patterns and services that have increased the amount of waste generated around meal and snack times in both classrooms and the cafeteria. These changes meant that it was time to reteach some practices around the building.
The St. Albans City School Stewardship Committee has been developing public service announcements and messaging to share with their peers and staff to encourage environmentally friendly practices around our school waste. In 2017 the theme of the annual Stewardship Day was “Reduce Reuse Recycle”, in 2018 we will continue in that vein with our theme of “Go Green.” Students have been visiting classrooms and making friendly observations about what ends up in the trash cans rather than the compost pails or recycling bins. There have been school wide activities with cafeteria trash sorts that have offered some interesting observations about what is in there that shouldn’t be - and helping to add awareness that we have some room to improve.
Students in the cafeteria were quick to identify items that should be composted: foods that you didn’t finish eating, a peel from an orange or a banana, the rest of your milk. Recycled items should include: cardboard, paper, plastic bottles or containers - but, as helpful 3rd graders reminded us, they need to be rinsed out first. Then we had fun listing off the things that should NEVER find their way into the trash can, items like metal utensils and plastic cups (that we can wash and reuse) those kinds of things mixed into the trash or the compost serve as a reminder that often we need to take the time to: Stop. Think. Sort. We have an extra step in reducing waste here at St. Albans City School - our share fridges and tables. If students have uneaten/unopened food it can go into the share fridge where anyone who might need a little extra to eat or drink is welcome to help themselves to it. This lesson of being mindful about reducing waste and offering up something you might not want to someone who does is a practice that works well here for our students.
Jill was excited when students gave examples of items that should be composted, she rewarded kids with high fives, handshakes and a thumbs up. Groups of students walked up together, some a little unsure of themselves at first, but they quickly felt comfortable when they were able to “talk trash” with Jill. Jill said, “Students at St. Albans City School have a long history of getting this right, I’m sure with some reminders and practice we will get back on the right track.”