By Eliza Kreske
The Ann Arbor Public Schools District could be losing approximately $125,000 a year by not recycling the paper waste its schools generate.
According to the AAPS District News, The Huron High School Green Team undertook a project to give all classrooms in the district new recycling collection boxes to encourage recycling and keep trash out of the recycling with a redesigned opening. But this effort could be in vain due to how little of what goes in those boxes is actually recycled.
Outside Pioneer there are three dumpsters; two are compactors used for trash, mostly food waste, and the other is used for recyclables. Each bin holds a ton of waste. Pioneer Science teacher Ron Robinson estimates that Pioneer alone generates around half a ton of paper waste a day.
This means the dumpster for recycling is filled every other day, but it is not emptied nearly as quickly; all waste is collected from the school once a week. If the recycling dumpster is full before the week is up the custodians have no choice but to put the rest of the recycling in the compactors with the rest of the trash, which is sent to the landfill. Every week at Pioneer, one and a half tons of recyclables, which is mostly paper, is sent with the rest of the trash to the landfill.
Today one ton of paper can be worth up to $170 if sold to a recycling center, such as Recycle Ann Arbor. Robinson claims that the value of recycled paper doesn’t decrease very often. “As long as some people look at a notebook or whatever, and see ‘recycled’ on it that makes them want to buy it; the value of paper won’t change,” he said. “Last year one ton was worth $125, and it’s up to $170 this year.”
There are 196 days in the 2017-18 AAPS school year. If each high school produces half a ton of paper waste a day, there are three high schools, and one ton of paper can make $170, if all the paper was recycled in the AAPS the district would make $49,980 a year. And this is excluding the 22 elementary and five middle schools.
The money could pay roughly for half of the salary of the average employee of the AAPS. Again, this is only the revenue generated from the high school paper waste.
Some students are upset by the news that the gratification they may feel when they use the recycle bins is not always valid. “Pioneer is a school that prides itself so much on creating citizens that do things for the betterment of the community,” senior Julie Post said. “But they aren’t doing their part for the betterment of the community.”
Post said this issue is common knowledge in the school and many people are attempting to help. “Some teachers bring in their own bins for recycling, but that shouldn’t be on them,” she said.
The Pioneer Sustainability Coalition, a club at Pioneer that finds ways to help the environment in the Pioneer community, is undertaking a project this year to raise awareness at Pioneer. According to science teacher Dustin Quandt, the project has not officially begun yet but the goals of the project will be “to decrease landfill-bound waste and educate the Pioneer student body and teachers.”
Both Post and Robinson offered solutions for the AAPS regarding ways to transport the paper to recycling centers.
“National Honor Society students would be happy to drive recyclables for volunteering hours,” Post said. While students alone would not be able to transport all the recyclables, it could alleviate the amount of recyclables in the overflowing dumpster.
Robinson believes they should use the trucks that already transport food to the schools. “The trucks come in the morning to drop off the food for hot lunch to the kitchen,” Robinson said. “Why not have them come back in the afternoon and take out the recyclables?”
All in all, the lack of recycling in Pioneer and by the AAPS is disappointing to the community and a loss of money. “In an institution that uses this much paper,” Robinson said. “You would think we would want to make some money off of it.”
“The preservation of our Earth is a shared responsibility,” added Post.
The Ann Arbor Public Schools District could be losing approximately $125,000 a year by not recycling the paper waste its schools generate.
According to the AAPS District News, The Huron High School Green Team undertook a project to give all classrooms in the district new recycling collection boxes to encourage recycling and keep trash out of the recycling with a redesigned opening. But this effort could be in vain due to how little of what goes in those boxes is actually recycled.
Outside Pioneer there are three dumpsters; two are compactors used for trash, mostly food waste, and the other is used for recyclables. Each bin holds a ton of waste. Pioneer Science teacher Ron Robinson estimates that Pioneer alone generates around half a ton of paper waste a day.
This means the dumpster for recycling is filled every other day, but it is not emptied nearly as quickly; all waste is collected from the school once a week. If the recycling dumpster is full before the week is up the custodians have no choice but to put the rest of the recycling in the compactors with the rest of the trash, which is sent to the landfill. Every week at Pioneer, one and a half tons of recyclables, which is mostly paper, is sent with the rest of the trash to the landfill.
Today one ton of paper can be worth up to $170 if sold to a recycling center, such as Recycle Ann Arbor. Robinson claims that the value of recycled paper doesn’t decrease very often. “As long as some people look at a notebook or whatever, and see ‘recycled’ on it that makes them want to buy it; the value of paper won’t change,” he said. “Last year one ton was worth $125, and it’s up to $170 this year.”
There are 196 days in the 2017-18 AAPS school year. If each high school produces half a ton of paper waste a day, there are three high schools, and one ton of paper can make $170, if all the paper was recycled in the AAPS the district would make $49,980 a year. And this is excluding the 22 elementary and five middle schools.
The money could pay roughly for half of the salary of the average employee of the AAPS. Again, this is only the revenue generated from the high school paper waste.
Some students are upset by the news that the gratification they may feel when they use the recycle bins is not always valid. “Pioneer is a school that prides itself so much on creating citizens that do things for the betterment of the community,” senior Julie Post said. “But they aren’t doing their part for the betterment of the community.”
Post said this issue is common knowledge in the school and many people are attempting to help. “Some teachers bring in their own bins for recycling, but that shouldn’t be on them,” she said.
The Pioneer Sustainability Coalition, a club at Pioneer that finds ways to help the environment in the Pioneer community, is undertaking a project this year to raise awareness at Pioneer. According to science teacher Dustin Quandt, the project has not officially begun yet but the goals of the project will be “to decrease landfill-bound waste and educate the Pioneer student body and teachers.”
Both Post and Robinson offered solutions for the AAPS regarding ways to transport the paper to recycling centers.
“National Honor Society students would be happy to drive recyclables for volunteering hours,” Post said. While students alone would not be able to transport all the recyclables, it could alleviate the amount of recyclables in the overflowing dumpster.
Robinson believes they should use the trucks that already transport food to the schools. “The trucks come in the morning to drop off the food for hot lunch to the kitchen,” Robinson said. “Why not have them come back in the afternoon and take out the recyclables?”
All in all, the lack of recycling in Pioneer and by the AAPS is disappointing to the community and a loss of money. “In an institution that uses this much paper,” Robinson said. “You would think we would want to make some money off of it.”
“The preservation of our Earth is a shared responsibility,” added Post.
The sustainability coalition is planning to encourage recycling in Pioneer.