How to Increase the Awareness of Recycling Waste in High Schools

High schools produce large amounts of waste with used electronics, instructional materials, and food. It is estimated that 24% of waste from high schools is from recyclable paper, while 50% is from non-recyclable paper and food. To reduce the amount of waste produced, students and teachers should work together.

Students need to learn more about the importance of recycling to the environment. Once children adopt these lessons, they are more likely to carry out the same knowledge into their future. Let us look at two ways on how to spread awareness about recycling waste amongst high school students:

Create a Recycling Week

As a school, you can dedicate a week to educate students on recycling. The main event of the week could be a competition between students in different classes. The challenge could be that the class which brings the most recyclables from home wins a prize. This competition has the advantage of bringing students together to see how they can help the entire class win the competition.

Although incentives are not the only drivers to get students engaged, it is important for the school to come up with an annual program where all students are constantly engaged to participate in the activities of the recycling week.

Recycling Club

It is important for the school administration to help students create a recycling club where students meet regularly to discuss efforts towards improving recycling at school. One of the activities of the club would be collecting and separating waste materials from the school bin. The members of the club could also print out recycling logos and posters to spread around the school to increase the club’s awareness. The school administration should also bring speakers from the business environment to help the club members students understand more about waste recycling.

By working together, both teachers and students can learn how to spread awareness about recycling; making the school more environmentally friendly, and also reducing the amount of waste generated.

Sources

https://web.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-121609-172634/unrestricted/GuideforImprovingStudentAttitudestowardsRecycling.pdf