SUSTAINABILITY AND THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAM

1. SUSTAINABILITY AND THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAM Sustainable Waste Stream Management Implementation Challenges Curriculum Tools for Engaging Students

2. THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAM Landfill School Campus Waste bin Tons per year Recycling Bin Material Recovery Facility Tons per year Food Waste Cart Tons per year Compost Facility Source Reduction Distance Cost Cost

3. GREEN SCHOOLS- A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE Transportation of Students and Staff Food Campus ecosystem Materials Purchasing Use Behaviors Campus water use Educational and administrative materials Disposal decisions Monitoring Campus energy use 3

4. THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAM Landfill School Campus Waste bin Tons per year Recycling Bin Material Recovery Facility Tons per year Food Waste Cart Tons per year Compost Facility Source Reduction Distance Cost Cost

5. LIFE CYCLE OF A STUDENT WORKBOOK Energy Energy Energy Energy Energy Wastes and Pollution Wastes and Pollution Wastes and Pollution Wastes and Pollution Wastes and Pollution Final Deposition Landfill Combustion Recycle or Reuse Raw materials acquisition Materials Manufacture Product Manufacture Product Consumption Reuse Product recycling 5

6. DIAGRAM OF A CLASSROOM RECYCLING SYSTEM Recycling Bin and Trash Placed Together Right by the Door Simple Signage Above Recycling Bin

7. RECYCLING SIGNAGE

8. BINS AROUND THE SCHOOL Bin in every classroom Administrative offices Copy room Faculty lounge Cafeteria Playground Bottom line: give people the chance to do the right thing wherever there’s a waste bin, place a recycling bin

9. BASELINE INVENTORY

10. WASTE AUDIT

11. Additional materials: Food Waste, Polystyrene #6, Other Plastics 3,4,5,7, Yard Waste, Textiles, Electronics, Other http://www.recycleworks.org/schools/s_audits.html

12. MONITORING

13. THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAM Landfill School Campus Waste bin Tons per year Recycling Bin Material Recovery Facility Tons per year Food Waste Cart Tons per year Compost Facility Source Reduction Distance Cost Cost

14. SOURCE REDUCTION • Food Service: • Washable trays, silverware, etc. • Reduced use of individual packaging • Waste Free Lunch Events • Unwanted food table • Buy local • Curriculum Materials: • Double sided copies • Encouraged use of“Back paper” • Reuse of textbooks • Administration: • Double sided copies • Regulation of copier use • Electronic Messaging • Electronic record keeping • Purchase of recycled content materials • Bulk purchasing

15. FINANCIAL COST BENEFIT • Waste Service Cost Structure for two Districts in Alameda County • Waste: $80/cubicyard/week • Food Waste: $40/cubicyard/week • Mixed Recyclables: $20/cubicyard/week

16. LABOR COST BENEFITMIXED RECYCLING Waste bin Recycling Bin Food Waste Cart

17. LABOR COST BENEFITFOOD SCRAPS Waste bin Recycling Bin Food Waste Cart

18. ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT Emerson Elementary in Oakland, CA. 264 students diverted 62% of their waste reducing 231 TONS CO2 emissions the equivalent GHG emissions from 42.4 passenger vehicles each year. the GHG emissions from 26,261 gallons of gasoline consumed. the GHG emissions from 538 barrels of oil consumed. the GHG emissions from 9,640 propane cylinders used for home barbeques. the GHG emissions from burning 1.2 railcars’ worth of coal. the GHG emissions from the electricity use of 30.6 average American homes for one year.

19. Material Carbon Savings “Break-Even Point” (miles) per ton recycled Truck Rail Freighter Aluminum 3.44 116,000 451,000 524,000 Corrugated 0.79 27,000 104,000 120,000 Newspaper 0.68 23,000 90,000 104,000 Steel 0.48 16,000 63,000 73,000 LDPE 0.36 12,000 47,000 55,000 PET 0.33 11,000 43,000 50,000 HDPE 0.30 10,000 39,000 45,000 Glass (to bottles) 0.07 2,000 9,000 11,000 • “Break-Even Point” is where GHG emissions transporting the recyclables equals GHG emissions (MTCE) avoided when the recyclables displace virgin feedstocks. • Carbon emissions “Break-Even” point for long-haul truck driving 30 tons of food waste [6 dry tons] to a compost facility is ~21,000 miles • Distance across the Continental US: 3,000 miles around the equator: 24,783 miles • Source: David Allaway, Oregon DEQ 19

20. 20 1992 Tellus Institute Packaging Study for Council of State Governments,EPA, and State of New Jersey

21. OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENT INVESTIGATION • Life Cycle Analyses: • Paper vs. plastic • disposable mugs vs. ceramic • hand dryer vs.towels • Reading on-line vs. paper Material intensity (g) Number of uses

23. Applied Math

24. 19.5 pounds CO2 /gallon 25 miles/gallon 3,200-4,600 miles of driving Environmental Impact Analyses CH4 23X more potent GHG than CO2 4.4 tons waste/year ~12% foodwaste ~1000 pounds foodwaste Converts to 300-435 liters CH4 under typical landfill conditions Source: EPA WARM and Brown,S. 2007 Env. Benefits of Compost Use.BioCycle 48: 6

25. ECOLITERACY THE SCHOOL WASTE STREAM Landfill School Campus Waste bin Tons per year Cost Recycling Bin Material Recovery Facility Tons per year Food Waste Cart Tons per year Compost Facility Source Reduction Distance Sustainability Cost

26. Using the EPA WARM Model to Compare Emissions Reductions Measures For a Hypothetical District with 800 Students per Grade Level Examine Three Different Measures: • Convert bus fleet (143 buses) to biodiesel: saves 582 tons MTCO2 • Add 32,000 square feet of photovoltaics: saves 441 MTCO2 • Increase recycling rate from 30% to 35%: saves 461 MTCO2 Recycling is the lowest cost alternative and uses existing infrastructure Source: EPA WARM model calculations run by Kelly Runyan ESA