Going Back to School Green

Professional signs from Recycle Across America

Launch the school year by GOING GREEN! This is an excellent opportunity to communicate “reduce, reuse, recycle” with families (and staff) to develop healthy, eco-friendly practices for the entire year! By setting your school up with these basic programs and expectations, the entire student body becomes actively involved in greening your school!

Back to school checklist:

1. Communicate to families -Print out a flier reminding parents that you are a “green school” and encourage practicing “reduce, reuse, recycle” at home. Flier Example
2. Set up recycling in classrooms and the cafeteria using signs with pictures of acceptable material before school starts.
3. Review recyclable materials with kids in the cafeteria by showing examples of “what can and cannot” be recycled.
4. Recruit student monitors to help peers during lunch dismissal for the first 4 weeks.
5. Host a Cafeteria Trash Sort – Let PLP turn your cafeteria into a classroom for an interactive, engaging and meaningful lesson on resource conservation and recycling. *Earn a point towards your MI green school certification!
6. Celebrate success! Congratulate students on their efforts during AM announcements and with posters.  Let them know they are appreciated and encourage them to keep up the great work

Wait! There’s more….PLP’s summer intern extraordinaire, Lawren Dame, launched a “Green School Toolkits” page on our website to provide best practices and ensure successful green initiatives! We hope teachers and parent volunteers will find these tips useful.  No one has time to reinvent the wheel, so check out the new page “Green School Toolkits” and institutionalize sustainability at your school! Don’t forget to share your ideas and photos with us and join our FB page for more frequent updates.

Good luck!

Gina