School Recycling Projects in the Works

The following schools submitted recycling project proposals, which are being supported through the Recycling Teacher Partner Program. Funds to support the recycling teaching partners are provided by Castle & Cooke Hawaii and the City & County of Honolulu.

Waianae High School $500

Waianae HS plans to expand their campus composting program to include vermicomposting. Twenty juniors in their Biological Agriscience program will be engaged in the project, plus their instructor. Eventually, they intend to have these students teach vermicomposting to elementary school students and possibly conduct community workshops. Waikiki Worm will provide training on January 31 and follow-up consultation afterwards.

Waialua Elementary School $250

Fourth and fifth grade students (approximately 14 total) in Waialua's Eco Academy will learn how to set up a vermicomposting system and introduce it to the school. They hope to expand the program to involve additional teachers, students, staff and parents in the near future as this core group learns more from this initial project. The students will be involved research and lessons associated with the vermicomposting, including building diagrams and models, data collection, inquiry based investigations, and becoming advocates for the three R's. Waikiki Worm will provide the training on a date to be determined in January or February.

Mililani Uka Elementary $500

Participating 4th and 5th grade classes will engage in vermicomposting to help reduce the amount of waste produced daily by their school cafeteria. This will be a service learning project for their school and community and a tool for understanding the role of decomposers as an integral part of any ecosystem. Waikiki Worm first will train nine of the school's teachers and staff and then return on separate dates to provide classroom lesson and a worm harvest party. The teacher workshop is scheduled for January 23, classroom lesson January 25 and the worm harvest party is set for June 4.

Moanalua Elementary $500

Students and teachers will be engaged is a schoolwide paper recycling program, involving eight classes (3rd and 6th grade) and approximately 200 students. Recycling bins for white and colored paper will be placed in the classrooms and serviced weekly by students and deposited into the community recycling bin located next door at Moanalua Middle School. The 6th grade students plan to create a video to promote recycling within the school community. Additionally, students will create posters and educate faculty and staff about recycling. They would like to engage the assistance of one of the recycling performance groups to help educate and motivate the students as they kickoff the new recycling program. They are currently in discussion with "Talkin' Trash" to schedule the performance date.

Moanalua Elementary $640

Waikiki Worm will assist them in developing a vermicomposting project on their campus. Recycling teaching partners from Waikiki Worm will train the teachers on the vermicomposting process, supply the worm bin and worms, and provide curriculum for the teachers to use in the classrooms. The students will be engaged in recycling food scraps from their lunches/cafeteria to "feed the worms" and of course monitoring and studying the worms and their ecosystem. The school will start with their four 3rd grade classes and utilize parent volunteers with plans to evolve it schoolwide overtime. As the worms breed and they become more expert at managing the worm bin, they think they will be able to expand the program, involve more students and process more of their campus food waste. Waikiki Worm is scheduled to conduct the teacher training on January 24, and will assist with follow-up consultations.

Manoa Elementary $500

Manoa Elementary School plans to begin a vermicomposting project on campus. Waikiki Worm will provide a teacher workshop first and then return to conduct a classroom presentation. Nine will attend the teacher training, including teachers, administrator, staff, custodian and community person. The fourth grade class of 27 students will then follow through with the worm composting, maintaining journals with observations and reflections during the process. Dates have yet to be set for February.

Kaimuki High School $450

Kaimuki High School will engage their biology classes in a vermicomposting study involving approximately 85 10th grade students. They will collaborate with an agricultural studies class to use their garden for plant experiments. Students will set up the worm bins, feed and care for them daily, harvest the vermicast and conduct plant growth and vermicast quality experiments. As the worms multiply, they plan to expand the bins to other science classrooms and get cafeteria staff involved to help reduce their biowaste. Other future possibilities being considered include selling vermicast to raise funds. Three classroom presentations will be scheduled sometime in February. The project will begin with nine worm bins.

ASSETS School $500

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The Green House will assist ASSETS School in developing a Butterfly Garden. The students will learn about pollinators, life cycles, food chains and habitats, and how human activities and waste disposal impact our environment. The school has requested two workshops -- Butterfly Garden Course and Eco-Footprints -- and the recycling teaching partners at the Green House will be training and assisting the students on three dates: February 6, March 2 and April 3. ASSETS School plans to continue the Butterfly Garden year to year and to integrate other recycling activities on campus, including their vermicomposting project. Worm castings from vermicomposting will be used to enrich their garden.

Moanalua High School $630

Waikiki Worm will conduct a vermicomposting workshop in early February for 14 teachers/staff members who will, in turn, spread the knowledge in individual classrooms. Each teacher represents a potential of 165 students. A second worm harvesting workshop will be conducted at a later date. The campus-wide vermicomposting project will also involve cafeteria workers and the special education and alienation programs.

Voyager Charter School $510

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Approximately 85 students (in grades one through three) participated in a total of five workshops conducted by Waikiki Worm and the Green House. Guided by the Green House, the Voyager first-graders planted a butterfly garden in front of the school to beautify the community and in and around the school. A worm composting lesson for the third-graders provided an opportunity to learn about reusing (vermicomposting) the campus' food waste. Enrichment Coordinator, Karla Meek, said: "Next year, we hope to use our vermicompost for a fundraiser and harvest more worms for other classes that these students can share their knowledge with."

St. Elizabeth School $400

Students in grades K-5 were treated to the Convergence Dance Theatre's high-energy and interactive dance, "The 3 R's." Fifth grade teacher, Christen Imig, explains: "We have an existing recycling program for paper, aluminum, and plastic; however, not all students are participating. I would like to use the 3 R's presentation to boost awareness and participation in the school's recycling program. Additionally, I would like the students to create posters which will be displayed around our school campus encouraging recycling, conserving water, eliminating litter. We are planning on holding two contests after the 3 R's presentation -- environmental stewardship poster contest and the Niketown Reuse-a-Shoe contest for most creative way to turning an old shoe into something fun."

Kipapa Elementary $503

Students (100 second-graders), eight teachers, and a handful of faculty and staff will be engaged in a large-scale vermicomposting project. Waikiki Worm will provide a teacher workshop on June 17, 2007 and then return in September for the Harvest Party. Teachers will introduce the worm colony to their respective classes and their students will set up the worm bins, feed and care for them daily, harvest the vermicast and then use it to conduct plant growth experiments (all in conjunction with our science unit on soils and plants). Additionally, students will become advocates of the three R's, by educating staff members through posters and presentations.

CRDG Summer Programs (UH Lab School) $330

Workshops conducted by Waikiki Worm will be an integral part of a four-week "garbage-ology" study of the CRDG Summer Programs (waste audits conducted daily to collect data on the types and quantities of different wastes generated by program participants over time). The primary vermicompost presentation and set-up will involve 26 sixth through eighth grade students, one primary instructor, and one teaching assistant. The raw materials for the vermicomposting project will come from program-wide collection (student and adult count), and collection of green waste from UH Manoa grounds. Once waste audit protocol is in place, students who continue beyond Summer Program into the regular academic year will serve as Recycling Experts for the school.

Waianae Intermediate School $461

The purpose of the RTP visit is to introduce students (61 seventh- and eighth-graders) to "environmentally-friendly waste management. The project will utilize worms, paper, cardboard, fruit, vegetables, and other organic materials to create vermicast, nature's fertilizer. Students will begin the process by creating worm-recycling bins for organic materials. Three to four students will group together to work as a team and properly care for their worm recyclers. Students will be in charge of feeding, watering, and harvesting their worms... we will use photographs, video and physical materials from our project to help promote vermicasting. The students will act as consultants to other classes in future projects."

Voyager Charter School $500

Voyager Charter School plans to conduct an Eco-Wear T-shirt remake workshop for two classes (total of 50 students). The students "re-make" new clothes from old, using discarded materials. Materials and instruction will be provided by Betty Gearen of The Green House. The students will also learn about the environmental impact of a single T-shirt -- the amount of resources and energy required for its manufacture. The students will also create a PowerPoint presentation documenting the entire process which will be presented at this year's Discover Recycling Fair, on the main multi-media screen. Dates have been set for August 25-27 (12:15 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.).

Sunset Beach Elementary $500

Sunset Beach Elementary plans to conduct an Eco-Wear T-shirt remake workshop for two 6th grade classes (total of 53 students). The students "re-make" new clothes from old, using discarded materials. Materials and instruction will be provided by Betty Gearen of The Green House. The students will also learn about the environmental impact of a single T-shirt -- the amount of resources and energy required for its manufacture. The students will also document the entire process and showcase the final product at this year's Discover Recycling Fair, on the main multi-media screen. Dates have yet to be set for the three workshops.

Aiea Intermediate School $650

Interdisciplinary integration of composting and recycling into a standards-aligned curriculum in math, science, social studies, and language arts. As part of the Waikiki Worm workshop and subsequent vermicomposting projects, approximately 100 seventh-grade students will be involved in collecting cafeteria waste, maintaining composting bins and raising awareness of vermiculture on campus and in the community. Our plan will compost hundreds of pounds of cafeteria waste. A pamphlet on how and why to compost with worms, for parents and ohana, will be produced.

Jefferson Elementary School $500

Sixty first-grade students will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature to promote enthusiasm and the motivation needed to help keep our island clean. Jefferson Elementary already hosts a Community Recycling Bin, but most teachers are not involved in recycling. After experiencing the workshop, students will create posters promoting recycling to place around campus.

Aikahi Elementary School $500

Sixty first-grade students will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature to promote enthusiasm and the motivation needed to help keep our island clean. "Aikahi is already involved in recycling plastic and paper goods. In our classrooms, students collect paper goods like newspapers from home and any scrap paper. Students can bring in plastic bottles and cans from home. Once a week, we place goods in the Community Recycling Bin to be recycled... We need the Hawaii Nature Center to help teach the students about the importance of recycling and show how what we put in the bin is connected to nature."

Kapolei Elementary School $500

Forty first-grade students will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature to promote enthusiasm and the motivation needed to help keep our island clean. "Students will learn that everyone can help care for plants and animals and the island home we share by recycling and composting. Students will learn how easy it is to reduce, reuse, and recycle. The HNC staff will also share a "compost recipe" with the students... and end up with the skills and motivation needed to start a recycling project at school... each class will create a recycling box in the classroom for all students to recycle items from home and school."

Kailua Elementary School $524

The Waikiki Worm workshop will involve 42 fifth-graders. "We wanted to teach our students how the worms contribute to the recycling process. We want to recycle the waste from the cafeteria, create vermicompost, and plant two flowerbeds (one with vermicast and the other without), having students videotape the process... Throughout the process, they will collect the waste and make sure the worms are fed and kept moist... We hope the next group of fifth-graders will be as interested and carry on the project yearly, as it aligns with the fifth-grade standards of recycling. It will also provide an opportunity for them to learn about how recycling is a continuous cycle that must be maintained."

Kalihi Uka Elementary School $500

Over forty first-grade students will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature as well as some fun recycling and composting activities. Currently, Kalihi Uka Elementary "does not have any recycling bins," according to the coordinating teacher. "We will create bins for recyclable items - cardboard, paper, cans, bottles - in our classroom to help motivate and teach our students how to recycle and the importance of it. The students will make posters promoting recycling and what we are doing in our classrooms." The recycling program will help raise money for the classes involved.

Lanakila Elementary School $500

All of Lanakila Elementary School's first-grade students (53) will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature as well as some fun recycling and composting activities. "We have the recycling container in our parking lot, but it is not used much [by the students]. We are going to promote recycling at our school through posters and bins for classrooms so that each grade level will begin recycling in their own classroom. The first grade students will make posters to encourage recycling; make bins (paper boxes) to be placed in each classroom; and help classrooms from other grades take their recycling to the bins."

St. Andrew's Priory School $500

Thirty-five first-grade students will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature as well as some fun learning to reduce, reuse and recycle. The students will create recycling bins for the classrooms, make posters to promote recycling at school. "There will be a regular time (possibly monthly) when the cans and bottles will be turned in by the teachers (or parent volunteers) for cash. The students will choose an organization to whom the money collected will be donated."

Moanalua Elementary School (two classes) $500/each

All of Moanalua Elementary School's first-grade students (50) will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature as well as some fun recycling and composting activities. "Our school does not have a bin on campus and therefore recycling is not visible. We will make posters to put up around school to promote recycling and create bins for our class which we will deliver to the [closest City bin] throughout the week. We will encourage other classes to do the same... We will create flyers [for fellow students] and parents. We believe convenience will encourage more parents to recycle."

Maemae Elementary School (three classes) $500 each/two classes (Hawaii Nature Center, $524/one class (Waikiki Worm)

Fifty-eight third-grade students will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature as well as some fun recycling and composting activities. Following the workshop, the plan is to "set up recycling stations in each classroom; create containers for aluminum, glass and plastic; take items to bins in school weekly; set up a bin for recycling paper as our school does not do this. We will work with the City to get contacts/sites to set this up for our school." Approximately 300 students in grades K-5 will learn about recycling with worms, as 15 teachers will attend the worm workshop. "Students will be aware of alternatives to throwing away their food waste. Students will also learn that the vermicast from the worms is a rich "soil" that provides nutrients for plants. This cycle demonstrates the value of recycling."

Ke Kula Kaiapuna O Nanakuli $545

Through knowledge gained during a teacher worm workshop, a total of 86 students (grades K-6) will learn to set up and care for their worm bins and colony of worms. They will also learn to harvest the vermicompost after the cycle is completed. The worm castings and worm leachate will be used in the school garden of native Hawaiian plants.

Waimalu Elementary $524

All fifth-grade students will be involved (as well as their teachers) through classroom presentations by Waikiki Worm. "Students will be learning about ecosystems and the cycle of energy (producers, consumers, and decomposers). The worms will provide an excellent, engaging example. Our plan is to introduce vermicomposting to the students in class, involve them in the upkeep of the worm bins and then harvesting (2 times this school year), and finding a use for the rich vermicast. The community would then be given an opportunity to create their own worm bins to spread this recycling program to their homes."

Mililani Mauka Elementary $524

All 125 second-graders (and all six teachers) "will learn about and engage in composting in their classrooms," via Waikiki Worm workshops. "They will use the vermicast to enhance the soil for their plants." The students will learn how to set up a mini compost bin so they can start their own at home.

Mililani Waena Elementary (two classes) $500/each

Fifty-four third-grade students will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature to promote enthusiasm and the motivation needed to help keep our island clean. "We recycle once a month (every last Wednesday) as a school (bottles and cans). [We plan to] make reminder posters to post around campus. After the workshop we will also provide recycle bins for our classroom and have students create their own posters to take home to remind their parents that recycling is next week."

Montessori Community School $500

Students (ages six to nine) and teachers will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature to promote enthusiasm and the motivation needed to help keep our island clean. "We have started a worm compost program in our classes that has produced a quantity of vermicast. Our next goal is to create a native plants and edible garden using the vermicast while continuing to compost with the increasing worm populations."

Kamiloiki Elementary School $500

Sixty-five students (ages six to seven) and teachers will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature as well as some fun recycling and composting activities. "We will create our own recycling bins in the classroom and send home flyers to the parents to have the kids bring their recyclable materials from home to the classroom. We would encourage our students to help with the school's ongoing recycling fundraiser program which is currently sponsored by the PTSA. They could help collect the recycling items from the bins, sort and get them ready to take to the recycling centers."

Kalihi Kai Elementary School $500

One-hundred first-graders and their teachers will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature as well as some fun recycling and composting activities. "We will do lessons on reducing, reusing and recycling. We will create a paper and plastic bottle bin in our classroom since there is no recycling at our school."

Red Hill Elementary School $500

About thirty-five first-graders and teachers will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature as well as some fun recycling and composting activities. "We will create our own recycling bins in the classroom. We will make posters to put up around the school to help motivate everyone to recycle. We will go over how it is important for everyone to recycle and take care of the environment."

Pearl City Highlands Elementary School $500

About forty-five first-graders and three teachers will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature as well as some fun recycling and composting activities. "We will create our own recycling bins in the classroom and send home flyers to the parents to have the kids bring their recyclable materials from home to the classroom. We will propose to our principal to obtain a 'white bin' in our school. If we can't get the big white bin, our first grade class will take the recycling into one of the Redemption Centers."

Island Pacific Academy $513

Initially, fifty-one sixth-grade students will be involved in the worm composting project (guided by Waikiki Worm). "At IPA, we would like to start a long-term plan for vermicomposting. Our goal is to have a school-wide vermicomposting project where all students in grades K-12 participate in the management of the project and contribute school and lunch waste to the compost."

Heeia Elementary School $500

All third-grade students (60) and teachers will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature as well as some fun recycling and composting activities. "We already have the white bins and the green containers for bottles, cans and plastics. We are going to encourage our students to recycle paper, plastic and cans by making recycling bins/boxes in our classrooms. Students will then add it to the larger recycling bins. Students will create posters that show the importance of recycling and how it protects the environment. Posters will be displayed around the school."

Hawaii Baptist Academy $500

Forty-eight third-graders and their teachers will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature as well as some fun recycling and composting activities. Students will develop an on-campus composting project using invasive seaweeds.

Helemano Elementary School (two classes) $500/each

All third-grade students (approximately 60) and teachers will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature to promote enthusiasm and the motivation needed to help keep our island clean. "After the workshop, each classroom will have recycling bins to collect items like bottles, cans, paper, newspaper and plastics. These items will be added to the school recycling project each month. We will brainstorm new ideas and projects to reuse and reduce, as well as create posters to promote the three R's."

Punahou School ($500)

Thirty-five ninth-grade students will be involved in various Green House workshops/activities. The students will learn to recycle paper into books, note cards, diaries and the like. They also will learn to make gift bags out of recycled paper. "The hope is this will spur students to look differently at ordinary materials in the home and neighborhood, and recycle them in ways they may not have thought of prior."

UH Lab School ($500)

Approximately 55 students will be participate in two Green House workshops. "Our department currently has beverage container recycling, and a compost I would like to add worm composting and engage the students in personal waste reduction by demonstrating how organic waste can be made into compost by feeding it to worms that eat food scraps, cardboard, newspaper and junk mail."

Kamahele Homeschool Support Group ($500)

Students in grades three through nine (40 total) will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature to promote enthusiasm and the motivation needed to help keep our island clean. "We all, as individual families, will recycle all paper, bottles and cans. Our diverse activities give us the unique ability to collect and educate other families to recycle. We will take our recyclables to neighborhood recycling bins, or schools in our districts using refunds to further our education on taking care of our Hawaiian environment."

Waialua Elementary School (two classes) $500/each

Forty-six third-grade students and their teachers will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature to promote enthusiasm and the motivation needed to help keep our island clean. "Students will be asked to actively recycle in the classroom for bottles, cans, plastic and paper. Using bins in each classroom, students from the recycling academy pick up the goods weekly. Students will draw and post recycling reminders to post around campus. In addition, they will create a newsletter to send home encouraging parents and families to recycle. The students will also write, act, and direct a public service announcement to be aired on the school broadcast."

Waianae High School ($375)

Approximately 90 students will be participate in three Green House workshops. "The RTP will teach the students about the benefits of composting as a means to create natural soil and fertilizers out of organic waste. Students will be given an introduction to using compost for growing plants. Students will throughout the day set up three composting areas on campus for organic waste to be recycled into natural compost."

Salt Lake Elementary School (two classes) $500/each

Fifty third-grade students and their teachers will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature to promote enthusiasm and the motivation needed to help keep our island clean. "Students will create posters on the importance of recycling and protecting the wetlands. Students will collect/recycle aluminum, plastic, and papers at home and school. The students will also create a flyer to be given to parents."

Aikahi Elementary School ($500)

Sixty-five third-grade students will participate in the Hawaii Nature Center's "Introduction to Plants, Animals, and Healthy Habitats" workshop which will engage students in hands-on activities in nature to promote enthusiasm and the motivation needed to help keep our island clean. "Presently at Aikahi we have a well established recycling project in place. Therefore, what we will focus our efforts on is motivating the school community to fully utilize the recycling opportunities available. We will do this by having the students create posters to put around school and flyers to be distributed to families encouraging the three R's - reduce, reuse and recycle. We will also possibly form a HI5 Community Drive as a fundraising effort to support our recycling project to involve the community."