Waste Management of Southern California Offers ‘Green’ Tips for Back to School

City of Eastvale

Eastvale – As nearly 50 million students head back to elementary and secondary school and an additional 21 million students go back to college, Waste Management encourages parents, students and educators to think about ways to make this school year a lesson in sustainability.

“As school boards, administrators, teachers, parents and students prepare for a new school year, Waste Management is providing some easy tips to use in your daily routine to help reduce waste,” said Eloisa Orozco, spokesperson for Waste Management of Southern California.

Here are some waste reduction tips for everyone to remember this school year:

• Reduce trash created by disposable bags, sandwich bags and foil by packing lunches in washable, reusable lunchboxes, bags and containers.
• Reusable coffee mugs and travel containers are a better option than disposable paper cups.
• Replace juice boxes and disposable cans and bottles with refillable water bottles. Many have caps that can clip to backpacks and lunch bags.
• Whole fruits and vegetables as snacks are healthier and better for the environment than packaged snacks.
• Consider purchasing paper and notebooks made from recycled paper or other eco-friendly supplies.
• When possible, take notes electronically on your laptop.
• When upgrading to the latest phone, computer, tablet or other device, look into buyback and recycling programs or donate the old ones to a not-for-profit organization.
• Educate yourself on your school’s recycling programs.
• Create an organized group to start recycling. School-related groups might include science classes, environmental clubs, and parent-teacher organizations.
• Encourage students and teachers to donate leftover school and office supplies at the end of the school year.
• Classroom paper recycling can be as easy as providing every classroom with a receptacle for used paper that is collected separately from garbage.
• If available, place lunch food and cafeteria leftovers in compost bins on campus.
• Recycle old computers, cell phones, televisions, and other electronic equipment, or donate to a not-for-profit organization.
• Purchase recycled paper products or other eco-friendly supplies for your campus.
• Reward participants. A reward system could provide incentives to help the success of your waste reduction program. Pizza parties, gift certificates, or donations to charities are examples of good rewards.

Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. It is also a leading developer, operator and owner of landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. The company’s customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more information about Waste Management visit www.wm.com or www.thinkgreen.com