One group that had already taken recycling on as a major cause is the Student Council at Yokayo School. Their Recycling Committee has been very active. They have set up recycling bins in the classrooms and the teacher's lounge, and have gotten a dumpster from Ukiah Solid Waste for collecting the bond paper they are now recycling. Most of the recycling that happens at the school now is due to their efforts.
They also videotaped themselves in their roles as champion recyclers. With the camera rolling, the committee visited several garbage cans around the school. At each one, they examined the contents, looking for recyclable items. So, they have a historical reference of what the school was like as all the recycling started.
The most innovative aspect of the Recycling Committee's work was what they called, "RECYCLE IN". This name helped to differentiate it from "RECYCLE OUT," which was what they called the movement of aluminum cans, glass, paper, etc. from the school to the recycling centers.
Recycle In is the "Re-Use" of the credo "Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle". The way it works is simple. Yokayo has become the ongoing recipient of a lot of bond paper that is blank or only printed on one side. The paper comes from several local businesses, and does not contain any confidential information. The latter is known because the bundles of paper are hand-checked by members of the Recycle Everything Club before being given to the Recycling Committee. The students take it around to the teachers at Yokayo, who can use it in the classroom instead of new paper. The paper is also albe to be fed through the copy machine, which means the teachers can use it for making math worksheets and other types of copied material.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2004
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