As a teacher, you can create a clean-up event where students have the opportunity to apply principles about environmental responsibility in a real world setting.
• Set the Date - Pick a day and time for your clean-up.
• Educate the Students - Review the difference between trash and recyclables in class before the clean-up.
• Safety First - Discuss what materials are appropriate (e.g. paper, cups, plastic bags, etc) and not appropriate to pick-up (e.g. glass, sharp objects, etc). Provide each student with a glove. Please note: this step is particularly important if you are conducting a clean-up with young students such as K-4th graders.
• Distribute the Materials - Assign 2 bags to a group of 5 students. Label and use one bag for trash and the other bag for recyclables.
• Measure the Results - After the clean-up, fill out the school clean up checklist in order to track the amount of trash/recyclables that your students collected.
• Invite Others - If you want more of the school to get involved, invite other classes to participate in your clean-up event.
