Recycling is great, but it is also important to try to cut down on the amount of materials we use in the first place. There are a lot of little habits that can add up over time. For example, buying food and supplies in bulk whenever possible to reduce individual packaging or making two-sided copies (much easier if you have a printer or copier that does it automatically).

My son's school does not seve lunch - everyone brings. Early on, the school discussed going "green" at lunch by reducing waste and packaging materials.

Our school created a "Rain Garden"
Located at an elementary school opposite Cougar Canyon Environmental Reserve, this site has a direct impact on the quality of Delta's primary salmon-bearing stream. The entire school population was involved in the creation of this rain garden, which infiltrates rainwater runoff from the school parking lot.
www.waterbucket.ca/gi/index.asp?type=single&sid=91&id=221
This is a website that featured what our school did and before and after pictures.

In our school we have a mandatory recycle bin for the children and adults for paper and containers. Ink cartridges for fund raising as well. Yet, the biggest area, in my opinion, is the needed recycling process during the lunch hour. If parents and school officials could join together to create a "green zone" the impact would be tremendous. I am looking for a grant to help our school with this teaching opportunity. Any ideas would be appreciated.

My son's school is planning to build a new building - to the extent possible it will be "green". Already there is a certified "green" modular building on campus, extensive recycling efforts and overall culture and emphasis on green, reducing the carbon footprint etc. The concepts are discussed and emphasized in the earliest grades.

the school has recycling of paper and they also collect ink toner cartarages .

One of the second grade classes in my daughter's elementary school has started to collect old cell phones for recycling.

This is a very important topic!
I really think that if our children are exposed to these ideas of recycling etc...it will follow them home and help to encourage US (the parents/family) to also practice being Green at home!
I think we need to do a study of the schools in our community/district and find out who has encorporated these programs in their schools and put some heat on those that aren't!!!

Our elementary school does a good job of recycling. And they participate in the www.earthdaybags.org/ every year.

For kids that are older - (3rd grade and up), there is a great internet video which talks about the "Story of Stuff" (www.storyofstuff.com/). I learned about it over the holidays and have shown it to a number of the teachers in the older grades. They are looking to incorporate this video and a follow up discussion into their coursework.

My son's school has a composting program. They compost food waste after lunch and it's someone's "job" to take out the compost. They have also put out a message for parents to bring in old bottle caps, corks, old magazine, old Christmas wrapping, etc. to be used in the art class to create a school wide sculpture that will be auctioned off at the silent auction. The parents have also create a mini solar powered play house in the school yard. The kids can turn on the lights, turn on the warm water, etc. in the house and it's all solar powered. This allows them first hand to understand that the power supply is limited and you can't keep the light on too long.

Great topic! While my child is in an older definitely not 'green' school building the teachers/parent community are doing the best they can to apply green principles whenever possible. For example, no disposable utensils/dishes in the classroom. For snack, they use dishes that must be washed (turns into a student/s job for the week). Another is the compost pile for our garden project. All compostable items from lunches/snack go into this pile. Little things add up - I would love to hear from others what they are doing.