Local Government Programs

Many jurisdictions have developed school district waste reduction program assistance for their local school districts. The following examples may provide ideas on how to establish effective partnerships between school districts and local jurisdictions in your community.

• City Programs
• County Programs
• Joint Powers Authorities

City Programs

Modesto
The City of Modesto Solid Waste Management Office works closely with school districts, teachers, and students to educate students about environmental issues and to provide important recycling services to the community as well as to the schools. The programs and services available include classroom presentations, high school awards and funding to promote recycling on campuses, reuse opportunities, and more.

Monterey
The City of Monterey's Solid Waste & Recycling Division works in cooperation with the Monterey Regional Waste Management District to educate and design programs specifically for schools. They work with schools on an individual basis to try to identify waste reduction and prevention ideas spanning from Waste Free programs to simplified classroom recycling. Additional, the city highlights outstanding programs on its website to demonstrate and inspire success.

Palo Alto
Services available to Palo Alto businesses and schools include recyclables, compostables and garbage collection in wheeled carts or bins. Expanded services include: recycling of all rigid plastics (e.g., broken toys, shelving), film plastics (e.g., shrink wrap, bubble wrap, plastic bags), scrap metal, hardback books and electronics all of which can be placed in a blue recyclables container. Businesses and schools may also participate in GreenWaste's compostables program. The compostables program accepts food scraps, food soiled paper and yard trimmings. Participation in this program promotes increased diversion, helping the Palo Alto community toward its goal of zero waste.

San Bernardino
The School Paper Recycling Program is one of San Bernardino's citywide commercial recycling services. This program is available to schools within the San Bernardino city limits that are serviced for refuse by the city's Refuse and Recycling Division. A wide variety of paper fiber materials are accepted in this program: all colors of office paper, newspaper and phonebooks, cardboard, and even magazine stock. Color coasters and laminated posters about this list are provided by the city to all staff and classrooms. The city's Refuse and Recycling Division also provides clearly labeled, bright blue plastic indoor collection containers, and lockable commercial recycling bins to participating schools. To "close the loop," the city also encourages schools purchase products with a minimum 20% "postconsumer" recycled-content. The city's Environmental Projects Division also provides two copies of an Environmental Education Guide to all schools within the San Bernardino City Unified School District to incorporate these activities into classroom instruction and to help participating schools learn more about resource conservation. This guide has a selection of projects, curricula, low or no-cost resources, and presentations available in a variety of environmental subjects to teachers.

San Diego
The City of San Diego has a comprehensive environmental education component for all grade levels of San Diego city schools. The three components include providing technical assistance to schools requesting help in designing and implementing school-wide recycling programs, making classroom educational presentations several hundred times each year, and, as a celebration of Earth Month, hosting the students' environmental fair.

San Francisco
The City and County of San Francisco provides technical assistance to all public and private schools in San Francisco to start and expand recycling programs. This assistance includes recycling bins and containers; an organics program to collect all food, paper, and yard waste; field trips; an awards program; a resource library, newsletters, and more! San Francisco is one of the first cities in to nation to implement an Organics Collection Program at K-12 schools. This groundbreaking program called "Food to Flowers!" involves collecting leftover food and soiled paper during school lunches. These leftovers get turned into compost instead of being dumped into local landfills.

San Jose
The San Jose Go Green Schools Program fosters school recycling and environmental stewardship in a parent- and community-driven process. The program was launched in 2005 and has received permanent funding from the City of San Jose. It is partnered with the Go Green Initiative-an innovative, comprehensive environmental program for K-12 schools endorsed by San Jose's City Council.

The San Jose Go Green Schools Program provides both web-based and hands-on technical assistance to schools, including information about how to get started, free recycling containers for paper and beverage bottle/can recycling, and a Resource Directory for developing environmental activities on campus. The city also hosts an annual Environmental Conference for teachers, parents, students and members of the community to learn more about the Go Green Schools Program and how it can be applied. Additionally, Go Green Mini-Grants provide financial assistance to San Jose's K-12 public and private schools to help establish, maintain or expand on-campus recycling or composting programs, or other sustainable environmental programs.

Santa Monica
The City of Santa Monica offers a free recycling program for every school within city limits. Each school, public or private, has a different approach and there are no correct or incorrect ways to do things. However, there are many easy steps that can be taken to save time and avoid undue burdens for those involved in the process.

See our School Recycling Program Tips page for a step-by-step organizing guide.

Any program requires education, and there is no better way to learn about recycling than to see it first hand. Set up a tour by seeing our local field trip opportunities link (for Santa Monica schools and organizations).

Sunnyvale
The City of Sunnyvale supports outreach efforts to help staff and students reduce the amount of garbage generated by the schools. Recycling more materials and reducing waste to begin with saves money while saving energy and resources. Paper and container recycling services are included in the fees paid for garbage service.

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County Programs

Alameda County
For the 2010-11 school year, all public schools in Alameda County are eligible for the free irecycle@school services. The irecycle@school program provides technical assistance in designing and/or enhancing a recycling program for the district as well as provide free 4Rs educational services. If you have questions about the irecycle@school program, please email schools@StopWaste.Org or call (510) 891-6500.

Unincorporated areas of Contra Costa County and the City of Oakley
The Environmental Action Program for Schools (EAPS) is a free program for schools located in the unincorporated areas of Contra Costa County and the City of Oakley designed to help school children of all ages (K-12) become more aware of the environment through easily accomplished actions and activities that take place at school. To participate, individual schools, including students, teachers and staff, undertake activities that fall in four of the Action Areas listed below. The activities are designed to help instill new environmentally beneficial behaviors in students and all involved. Schools are certified as an 'Environmental Action School' when they have completed activities that can help the environment in at least four of the Action Areas.

Schools choose activities from four of the eight activity Action Areas below:

• Recycle
• Letter Campaign
• Buy Recycled
• Environmental Curriculum
• Less Toxic
• Become a Collection Site (fund raiser)
• Waste Prevention
• School Composting

Schools can also request to design their own Action Area as a substitute for one or more of the above.

Merced
The County of Merced provides schools assistance in starting a school recycling program for beverage containers, paper, and/or cardboard. The program includes school presentations as well as useful resources.

San Mateo County
The "Recycle Works" schools program in the County of San Mateo focuses on educating young people and the community about the problems and solutions of solid waste management and how a school can model a good resource conservation program by implementing a recycling and waste prevention program. The program offers ideas about educating student through presentations, field trips, and workshops, setting up a school recycling program and how to do a waste audit with students. The County also maintains an excellent school recycling guide and recognizes school or school district recycling leaders through an annual award program. Awards are given to schools, administrators, students and/or parents who demonstrate excellence in creating or expanding a recycling program or who initiate a recycling project within the school community or district to increase awareness of resource conservation.

Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County's Recycling Resource offers technical assistance in implementing recycling programs at educational facilities. In addition to offering free assistance in designing and implementing a successful recycling program for its schools and school districts, the county's recycling and waste prevention education program provides classroom presentations for K-6 grades and offer tours of the Tijiguas Landfill, the Santa Barbara County Transfer Station, and the Health Sanitation Services Recycling Facility (Materials Recovery Facility).

Santa Cruz County
The County of Santa Cruz Green Schools Program (GSP) furthers the education of students, teachers and staff on environmental topics including resource conservation, storm water runoff, water quality and conservation, energy conservation, recycling, and waste reduction. The program's goal of GPS is to support the county’s schools as they evolve into "Green Schools" that model wise use of resources, eliminate waste, reduce non-point source pollution, and train students to conserve scarce resources like energy and water. The program provides both in-class and school wide presentations, educational assemblies, and technical assistance to member schools.

Ventura County
In an effort to reduce waste in all of Ventura County’s K-12 schools and as a part of a the Ventura School District initiative, the City of Ventura's Environmental Sustainability Program is working with local schools to develop a waste assessment. This activity can be used both as an learning experience and a tool to reduces operating costs associated with waste management. A unique component of the City's program is its Green School Award for achievement in environmental excellence. The award is co-sponsored by the City’s Environmental Services Office and Agromin Premium Soil Products to recognize schools that demonstrate an exemplary effort to help our environment.

Joint Power Authorities

Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority
The Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority through its contractor, TRG & Associates, offers technical assistance to implement and/or enhance school recycling programs in its service area. The authority provides a variety of tools to educate and inform teachers and students about recycling and source reduction. The recommended approach involves "how to" instructions, as well as various methods for teaching the importance of recycling both at school and home. The authority acknowledges that many teachers and staff are short on time and resources; therefore, this program was designed with this in mind. Currently, TRG is responsible for all coordination, and organization of workshops, assemblies, contests, and available resources to help ensure that recycling and waste prevention education is implemented.

The authority also recognizes and rewards schools for reducing and recycling waste and encourages continuous improvement through the "Wastebusters" School Certification Program. A Wastebuster certified school practices environmental stewardship of its own environment and serves as a model for the surrounding community. The cornerstone of the "Wastebusters" Certification Program is the recycling and waste prevention activities, decreasing landfill disposal.

West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority
The West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority provides its school community valuable information and tools to reduce waste, save natural resources, and teach valuable lessons at the same time. This site offers information on the benefits of and steps to start school recycling and vermicomposting programs, as well as teacher resources (e.g. curricula, grants, field trips) and links for students.

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