Register for the March 10 School Recycling Workshop.

This year the VRA will be working on a school recycling initiative where the goal is to have every school in the state recycling by 2010. Please complete the online survey for your school district or the printable survey. The VRA received over 50 requests last year from parents and teachers in the Commonwealth who requested recycling bins in their schools and classrooms.

By beginning large-scale recycling programs in schools, recycling will become a habit for young people and they will be more likely to recycle as adults. The VRA sees recycling in schools as an opportunity to expose all children to the act of recycling. Recycling is taught in the Standards of Learning tests (SOLs) and many local recycling coordinators actively teach children about recycling, however there are a high number of schools that have no recycling programs in place. Teachers have commented to us that they feel hypocritical when they teach the importance of recycling but do not recycle in their class room. Teachers ask for someone to make it easy for them so that they can “practice what they preach.”

The VRA is committed to helping your school system implement a recycling program for every school in your locality. The city of Virginia Beach began a city-wide school recycling program in 2007 and more than 2 million pounds of recyclables were collected in the first school year. The VRA estimates that if every school in the state recycled, the state could divert 50 million pounds of recyclables from landfills each year.

Please help the VRA take this important next step in the field of recycling by contacting us with your questions about how to start a recycling program in your schools. Contact Erica Trout at 804-302-4231.