Mapping our Waste Stream

Yesterday we had a great day at June Jordan School for Equity in our garden-based environmental justice elective, called the Green Revolution, and taught by Ms. Huang. We completed the first step of our new campaign to reduce school waste through recycling & composting. The students are conducting youth-led action research, in order to assess the level of recycling of waste currently going on at school, to figure out what needs to be done to improve it, and to create a school-wide campaign to make that change.

Resources we’ve drawn on so far include SF Environment’s Food to Flowers school recycling program, and the Youth Leadership Institute’s youth-led action research & planning curriculum.

Last week the students collected data on all the trash and recyclables being thrown away in every part of the school. Yesterday they put them together on a map of the school, to see where and how trash is moving. Next step, they’ll ask questions about who is recycling and why, and they’ll survey and interview youth and adults at school about their opinions and behaviors regarding recycling & composting.

Meanwhile, the students are caring for red wriggler worms in the classroom, to get to know them up close and personal before starting a worm bin.

recycling
composting
worm bin
youth-led action research
participatory research