Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools RECYCLING COORDINATOR A CMS school Recycling Coordinator and a back-up coordinator are essential to the success of its recycling program. The Recycling Coordinator should be someone who is enthusiastic and has good communication and organizational skills. Communication is the KEY. The Coordinator serves as the Point-Of- Contact between the school and the Mecklenburg County Environmental Specialist for CMS and Point-Of-Contact within the school for –Teachers –Student Groups –Custodial, cafeteria, and administrative staff Establish a Recycling TEAM and with the Team: –Establish a paper and cardboard Recycling Program –Maintain and monitor the program –Coordinate waste reduction and recycling educational activities

Communication The Coordinator serves as the Point-Of-Contact within the school and Point-Of-Contact between the school and the Mecklenburg County Coordinator for CMS Recycling; relaying the needs of the program for all of these school groups: –Teachers –Student Groups –Custodial, cafeteria, and administrative staff –PTA and individual parents The Coordinator must keep the school groups informed about how the program is working and what to do if something is not working properly and receiving input from staff, students, and administrators about ideas to improve the program or problems with program operations (i.e.. classrooms not participating, overflows, contamination, dumpster overflows, etc.) –The Coordinator receives input from staff, students, and administrators about ideas to improve the program or problems with program operations. The Coordinator communicates with the Mecklenburg County Coordinator for CMS about the need for bins, educational materials, education sessions, and assistance with program operations. At the beginning of the school year each school needs to provide the Mecklenburg County CMS Coordinator with the schools Recycling Coordinator contact information. The Mecklenburg County Coordinator communicates with the School Coordinator throughout the year; sharing information about CMS Recycling programs, grant opportunities, recycling programs for other materials, environmental events, and the CMS Recycling Awards program. The School Coordinator forwards the information to members of the appropriate school group.

Establish a Team The Coordinator can not do everything. Who can help establish and sustain the recycling program? Administrators – Top down support for the Recycling Program is vital. When the Principal is behind a program – it works. The administrative offices are the first thing a parent, student, or visitor sees when entering a school. Administrative staff can do a lot to set a positive environmental example for the school by recycling in their offices and being knowledgeable about the recycling program. Administrative staff also need to know who to call when assistance is needed. Teachers – each classroom teacher will be responsible for recycling within the classroom. The classroom teacher will be responsible for making sure the recycling bin & flyer/poster remain in the classroom from one year to the next. Does the teacher know what can be recycled? Does the classroom have a bin? Is the bin in the right place? Is the trash bin next to the recycling bin so that students can make a good decision when disposing of their waste? Is the classroom bin being emptied frequently enough? Is the recycling really going into a recycling collection container or is it somehow getting into the trash collection container? Does the teacher know who to contact when there is a need or something is not going as planned? Does the teacher inform the students about how to recycle in class? Will a teacher be the sponsor of the student club which does the recycling? Students – each student needs to know what and how to recycle. What role will the students play : Will the students be involved in the collection? Will a student club do the classroom collections? Will the students be responsible for getting the paper all the way into the dumpster? Custodians – the custodians are the eyes and ears of the campus. They know when things are operating properly. The custodial staff know what is happening with both the trash and recycling dumpsters. Will they be responsible for reporting dumpster issues directly to CMS or the County or will they report issues to the coordinator? What role with the custodial staff play in recycling activities: Will the custodial staff be responsible for the collection from each classroom? Will they be responsible for collection in the administrative areas? Will the students do the classroom collection and the custodial staff be responsible for emptying the large collection bins into the dumpster? Cafeteria Staff – the cafeteria generates the majority of the schools cardboard waste. Cafeteria staff need to be a part of the team so they know the importance of flattening and recycling the cardboard and keeping contaminants out of the recycling dumpster. Will they be responsible for reporting dumpster issues directly to CMS or the County or will they report issues to the coordinator or head custodian?

What Tasks must be accomplished Planning – who will do the tasks Education and publicity – getting the word out to everyone in the school about why and how to recycle Distribution – distributing the bins, flyers, posters, etc. Collection – collecting the paper and placing it in the Recycling dumpster Monitoring – making sure the program is going well and the goals are met

Plan how the recyclables will be moved from interior collection container to the outside Recycling Dumpster and form a Recycling Team Determine who will accomplish the collection and transport to the recycling dumpster – will it be done by a student club, a designated student in each classroom, the custodial staff, OR a combination of staff and students. (Determining how collection occurs will influence the size and number of collection toters are required) –Determine when the collection will take place – daily, twice-a-week Make sure team members know how often and when the recycling dumpster is emptied so that interior collection will coincide with the dumpster service schedule –The custodial, cafeteria, and administrative staff need to know the dumpster service schedule so they can make sure the dumpsters are not blocked, determine if extra service is needed, determine if reduced service is needed for the trash dumpster (saving the school money), report service disruptions or dumpster damage. –Determine if the Recycling Dumpster is the correct size, if the side doors) need to be opened so that staff and/or students may place the paper and cardboard in the side doors. –The Coordinator and staff need to know who to call for dumpster service issues –The Mecklenburg County Waste & Recycling hauler contact is Ms. Nezzie Russell

After setting up the team and the team decides which role each group will play, It is time to Establish and Sustain a Paper & Cardboard Recycling Program. With help from the team the Recycling Coordinator will: Determine how many of each type of recycling bin are needed for the entire school. (Slide with bin sizes to follow). How many classroom bins, copier/mail room bins, deskside bins (for administrative areas), how many toters (bins on wheels) will be needed to collect the paper from each room and what size toter is needed? Place the order for the bins and informational poster/flyers with the County CMS Recycling Coordinator Designate a specific location for each type of paper recycling container – classroom, office, art/copy room, etc. A trash container should be placed next to the recycling container so that people have the opportunity to make appropriate decisions regarding recycling and disposal Require that the container be returned to its location after emptying and throughout the summer and winter breaks Explain to staff and students how to keep paper and cardboard separate from other waste and where the containers are located Assign someone to be responsible for monitoring the dumpster service – trash and recycling. This individual will need to know: the number, size and type of dumpsters (recycling/trash), the correct location, the service schedule, and will monitor the service and report missed services or needed increases or decreases in service.

Ready to START ! The bins and flyers arrive and they need to be distributed to each classroom and administrative area. The collection toters (bins on wheels) need to stored in a safe place and make sure they are designated for Recycling ONLY. Internal advertisement for the program has been planned and will begin while the bins are being distributed. Publicity can be done by any or all of the team groups. Make sure the publicity covers why and how to participate in the program. Examples: –Flyer/Poster for each classroom – campaign to the teachers –Closed circuit TV ads – produced by students –Announcements from the Principal or Recycling Coordinator or Students or Staff –Students create posters or banners – maybe a poster contest –Decorate bulletin boards

Contacts Information about CMS Recycling, Educational Links and a copy of this PowerPoint can be found at Dumpster Service - for both trash and recycling dumpsters –Nezzie Russell Location of dumpsters Dumpster maintenance issues (damage, cleanliness, open side doors, dumpsters not set back in place after service) Missed service – Rusty Fuller Changes in Number of dumpsters and size & type of dumpster Changes in Frequency of service Recycling and Education Programs – signs for recycling dumpster and assistance with establishing and maintaining recycling program and environmental education materials and programs – Gail Thomas Recycling Ordinance Enforcement – Stewart Espey Litter Prevention and Campus Clean-Ups – Jake Wilson Composting & Vermicomposting Education – Nadine Ford Free Tours of Mecklenburg Recycling Facility – Paula Hoffmann

Mecklenburg County provides the classroom bins, a flyer/poster for each room, bins on wheels (toters) to use to collect the paper from each room; RECYCLING BINS BLUE BINS FOR PAPER: HeightWidthDepth Capacity DESKSIDE GALLON – office areas MEDIUM GALLON – each classroom LARGE GALLON – copier/mail rooms BLUE ROLLOUT Toters on Wheels: ROLLOUTS are used to get the paper from interior to exterior dumpster Small gallons Medium gallons Large gallons The Recycling dumpster is Usually emptied twice per week and is Usually 8 cubic yards Paper bins Rollout – Toters for collections

High School flyer/poster Elementary flyer/poster Mecklenburg County furnishes these program flyers

If a small group Elementary students is collecting the paper and putting it in the cardboard/paper dumpster, Mecklenburg County can Supply up to 15 vests the School. If a large group of students is collecting the paper and putting it in the cardboard/paper dumpster, Mecklenburg County can supply lanyards to the Students.