GET STARTED GREENING YOUR SCHOOL
There are ways to improve your school’s health and to decrease the impact on the environment. A healthier school is a better learning environment. Plus, greening your school may lower its operating costs.
For details about starting a recycling program at your school, contact our education specialist at (216) 443-3731 or send an email.
The Benefits of Recycling
Recycling helps the earth in many ways:
- Conserves local and international natural resources. Products from recycled content instead of virgin natural resources,
prevent the extraction or removal of more natural resources from the environment.
- Protects air and water quality. Recycled content products have fewer manufacturing steps, so less chemicals or waste products
are generated.
- Saves energy. Less electricity to operate machines and/or natural gas to melt a material is needed.
- Saves space in operating landfills. If less trash is being disposed of in a landfill, then the landfill can accept trash for a longer period of time. Less landfills will be built, which will preserves green space and farmland.
- Decreases water usage. Fewer manufacturing steps that need water for cooling a machine will save water.
- Decreases greenhouse gases. Less fuel is used to make recycled content products; therefore, less carbon dioxide is generated.
Recycling also supports economic development by supplying jobs at recycling centers and businesses that buy and sell recycled materials and remanufacture, ship and sell recycled content products. Also, businesses pay taxes in the communities that they operate. Taxes help pay to maintain roads and to provide services like police, fire and garbage removal.
Recycling Fundraisers
Schools can recycle the same items that are recycled at home, although only items like aluminum cans, paper and cardboard might raise a small amount of money. See below for specialty materials that can be collected as a school or group fundraiser. Think about being a green product in bulk like water bottles or canvas bags and selling them for a profit. You can reduce trash and earn some cash.