Briargrove Elementary School

Wrigley’s Litterless Campaign/

NWF Eco-SchoolsConsumption and

Waste Pathway2013 - 2014

Briargrove (BG) Elementary School (ES) in Houston, TX, entered the Wrigley’s Litterless Campaign as compliment to our many on-going school-wide recycling/waste minimization activities BG has actively recycled for the past five (5) Years, see:

http://bgroadrunners.org/bge-recycles/ BG participates annually in the following recycling events:

America Recycles Day: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Recycle Bowl Competition: 2011, 2012, 2013 Green Cup Recycling Challenge: Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Fall 2013

BG entered into HISD’s Green Schools Challenge Spring 2012 Received dedicated blue paper recycling bins (7-gal) for all classrooms and

plastic & aluminum recycling bins (35-gal w/tops) for all common areas. BG Participated in the Green Apple Day of Service Fall 2013

Reused approximately 8.000 lbs of bricks, flagstone, etc

The Litterless Campaign also correlates with BG’s participation in the International Baccalaureate Programme Programme of Inquiry: Sharing the Planet

Briargrove ES Participation in Wrigley’s Litterless Campaign

Purpose of Entering Campaign: To continue to improve recycling implementation and waste minimization at BG by leveraging existing IB curriculum, activities, training, and participation in national recycling contests that use our students to measure and evaluate how much and how well we recycle & minimize waste at our school.

Award: BG was awarded$500 grant to participate in the 2013-2014 Wrigley’s Letter Less Campaign. See: www.eco-schools-litterless.org/.

Wrigley Litterless Campaign: The competition aims to reduce litter and affect long-term behavior change among youth. It is run by the Foundation for Environmental Education's Eco-Schools (Eco-Schools International ) with the support of the Wrigley Company Foundation.

NWF Eco-School: BG’s acceptance of the grant allows us to work with the Eco-Schools USA program and use our experience to work towards becoming a NWF Eco-School. See: www.nwf.org/Eco-Schools-USA.aspx

BG Successes: BG will be able to highlight and share our waste minimization & recycling successes across the city, country, and internationally!

BG Wrigley Litterless Campaign (con’t)

BG Publicized the Litterless Award through: LivingTree (school-wide media) BG Announcements BG PTO Website Bulletin Boards

BG Followed the NWF Eco-School’s Seven-Steps Step 1: Eco-Action Team Step 2: Waste Audit/Litter Review Step 3: Eco-Action Plan Step 4: Monitor and Evaluate Step 5: Link to Curriculum Step 6: Involve Community Step 7: Create Eco-Code

BG Wrigley Litterless Campaign (con’t)

BG’s Eco-Action Team consists of: Eco-Action Core Team:

Teachers (6) Student Government Association Representatives (5) Kids for Saving Earth Club Representative (1)

Kids For Saving Earth (KSE) Club 34 Members in 2013-2014 See: http://bgroadrunners.org/kids-for-saving-earth/

Various Eco-Oriented Groups/Activities School-wide/community participation through the

year Too many participants to count

Step 1. Eco-Action Team

Various other Eco-oriented groups at Briargrove work to educate our students to protect our Earth, understand the importance of healthy eating and living, and taking care of others in the community.

These eco-activities involve the whole school, including parents and the community. The list of Briargrove teachers, students, and parents that are involved in these activities is too broad to list here.

Examples of these groups/activities are as follows:

Edible School Yard/Urban Harvest Gardens Butterfly Gardens Green Apple Day of Service Briargrove Orchard Caring and Sharing Committee Berry Earthy Fun Run

Other BG Eco-Groups/Activities

Spring 2014, BG conducted a school-wide Recycling Questionnaire 10 recycling/waste minimizations questions were asked to assess our

ongoing recycling implementation Survey was given to one BG class in each grade, kindergarten

through fifth grade. Results indicate the following:

Step 2. Waste Audit/Litter Review

Question Ave*1. Does your teacher talk about recycling in class? 86%2. Do you recycle at home? 51%3. Do you recycle at school? 99%4. Do you have throw away items you bring for lunch or snack? 90%5. Do you bring a water bottle to school to use throughout the day? 21%6. Do you use the blue recycling bin in your classroom? 97% 7. Do you use just one side of your writing paper? 82%8. If you make a mistake when writing or drawing, do you throw away your piece of paper and get a new one?

87%

9. Do you know what the StryoGenie does in the lunchroom? 76%10. When you see papers on the floor or ground do you leave them there? 59%

KSE Club reviewed the results of the recycling questionnaire/waste audit & considered the results of GSA’s Green Cup Recycling Challenge (Fall 2013) Selected five key items to incorporate in the Action Plan for

the remainder of 2014 Grouped the items into three key “Action themes”

Recycling Education Recycling Right! Waste Minimization

Voted on the goals for these actions the remaining of 2014 Deferred other actions to 2014-2015 year

KSE voted to use the Wrigley Litterless Campaign funds to help pay for a water bottle filling station.

BG Eco-Action Core Team reviewed and voted to accept the KSE’s Action Items and Goals for 2014

Step 3. Eco-Action Plan

Eco-Actions & Goals for Spring 2014 Continue Education on Recycling:

Goal: 100 % of all teachers talk about recycling Continue to improve Recycling Right!

Goal: 100% of all students recycle Goal: 100% of all students know about the blue bins Goal: 90% of students Recycle Right!

Continue to Minimize Waste generated at BG: Goal 100% of Grades 1 – 5 know about the StyroGenie

Looking forward to 2014-2015 Build on lessons learned from 2014 Action Plan Build on lessons learned from BG Earth Day Picnics Encourage use of reusable water bottles

Purchase Water Bottle Filling Station!

Step 3. Eco-Action Plan (con’t)

BG monitors and evaluates recycling successes through measures and surveys from our annual recycling competitions, and from the 2014 Recycling Questionnaire conducted for the Litterless Campaign. Recycle Bowl Competition

Three (3) years of data Measures how much we recycle over a 4 week period

Green School Alliance’s (GSA) Green Cup Recycling Challenge Three sets of data (Spring and Fall 2012, Fall 2013) Measures how well we recycle

Recycling Questionnaire for Litterless Campaign Survey of students to understand how well they understand

recycling requirements and implementation Resurvey periodically to compare to goals.

Step 4. Monitor and Evaluate

The Litterless Campaign Correlates with BG’s participation in the International Baccalaureate Programme:

“Sharing the Planet” Programme of Inquiry (Example 2nd Grade): Inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other

people and other living things; communities and the relationship within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.

Central Idea: All living things evolve and adapt with a changing environment Key Concepts: responsibility, change, perspective Related Concepts: living things, adaptations, natural resources Lines of inquiry:

Basic needs of living things Adaptations of living things Human impact on environment

Questions/Inquiries: Why do we need to conserve? How would it affect the future generation if we did not conserve our

natural resources? How have people changed the environment? Resources:

United Streaming Video resources; video notes; natural resource sort; Becky Luman - conservation speaker

Learning experiences: Read: The Lorax - discuss what we could do to help earth, respecting resources, Earth Day picnic –reducing trash

Student Initiated Actions: Earth Day Picnic reducing trash Bringing in recyclables Observing natural resources Writing Compositions about Caring for our Planet and the importance of Recycling and Reducing Trash.

Step 5. Link to Curriculum

BG Recycling/Waste Minimization Activities conducted throughout the 2013-2014 year involved all members of our BG community: Students, Parents, Administration, Local Businesses Green Apple Day of Service (USGBC)

Submitted event summary to the National ReUse Contest

Event publicized on HISD’s Green School’s website National Recycling Competitions/Events

Recycle Bowl Competition America Recycles Day Green Cup Recycling Challenge

Earth Day Picnic for the Planet: Waste Minimization StyroGenie® Pilot Project: HISD/Waste Minimization

Step 6. Involve the Community

Fall 2013, BG held our first USGBC Green Apple Day of Service…a day used to involve our whole BG Community, beautify our school, and teach conservation of natural and material resources.

We incorporated the use of approximately 8,000 lbs of repurposed materials from Houston's ReUse Warehouse to spruce up our school's newly installed butterfly gardens, orchard trees, and outdoor classrooms!

More than 55 teacher, parent, and student volunteers lined the science garden with reclaimed limestone blocks, giving it a much needed border.

We also circled our school’s fruit trees and butterfly bushes with reclaimed bricks to ensure the young trees and plants are not damaged by lawn crews.

We repurposed a large, 1,000 lb concrete planter at the school's back entrance, on which each of our student volunteers placed their handprints forming beautiful tree leaves to remember the day.

Volunteers included our campus custodial crew; a local landscape company; a local grocery store; and the whole BG community: students, teachers, admin, and the school principal working on a Saturday!

We entered our project in the National ReUse Competition & were featured on HISD’s Green Schools Website.

BG Green Apple Day of Service / National ReUse Competition

2013 NATIONAL REUSE CONTEST BRIARGROVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, HOUSTON, TX

On September 28, 2013, Briargrove Elementary School, Houston, TX, was thrilled to be able to incorporate the use of approximately 8,000 lbs of repurposed materials from Houston's ReUse Warehouse to spruce up our school's newly installed butterfly gardens, orchard trees, and outdoor classrooms! Despite some rain during the day, more than 55 teacher, parent, and student volunteers lined the science garden with reclaimed limestone blocks, giving it a much needed border. We also circled our school’s fruit trees and butterfly bushes with reclaimed bricks to ensure the young trees and plants are not damaged by lawn crews. In addition, we repurposed a large, 1,000 pound concrete planter at the school's back entrance, on which each of our student volunteers placed their handprints forming beautiful tree leaves to remember the day. We are proud that so many volunteers came together to accomplish these tasks, including our campus custodial crew helping to prepare the planter's surface ready to paint; a local landscape company lending their forklift to relocate the planter; a local grocery store supplying fruit for snacks; and the school principal working on Saturday. We also have great future projects for our school’s Kids for Saving Earth Club to utilize the remaining ReUse items: a salvaged trellis, birdhouse, seeds, plants and flagstones for our school gardens. Our collective efforts have given us the opportunity to educate our community that reusing construction materials, rather than sending them to a landfill, is a wonderful way to save money and protect our Earth.

BG annually enters several national recycling contests that we use to measure how much and how well we recycle at our school compared to other schools around the country: Recycle Bowl Competition, Green Cup Recycling Challenge and America Recycles Day .

KSE prepared for BG’s participation in the various Fall 2014 school-wide recycling events by painting signs using reused materials to publicize the events and to promote recycling at our BG School Carnival.

National Recycling Competitions

The Recycle Bowl Competition, sponsored by Keep America Beautiful, is a nationwide contest between schools to measure how much is recycled during the month-long contest (Oct 21- Nov 15).

Fall 2013 marked the third year for BG to participate The first two years, BG involved the whole BG community This year, we concentrated on school-wide, internal recycling & waste

minimization. KSE Club encourages our students, teachers, staff, and community

to make an extra effort to recycle by posting their signs! During the three years BG has participate, we submitted reports of

our recycling data to be compared to schools around the country. BG results are as follows: Fall 2011: 3,592 lbs Fall 2012: 4,617 lbs Fall 2013: 2,730 lbs

Recycle Bowl Competition

America Recycles Day on November 15 is one day a year communities across the country have come together to educate, motivate, and celebrate our recycling successes.

BG wrapped up our participation in this year’s Recycle Bowl Competition by celebrating in America Recycles Day! We communicate our Recycle Bowl Competition efforts We publicize ARD to our community through:

School Marquis Signs painted on re-used materials

America Recycles Day

Fall 2014: BG competed in our third Green Cup Recycling Challenge

Challenge: To encourage the entire school community to ReThink Waste & Recycle Right!

Used the month-long contest to raise awareness about recycling and waste reduction, clarify expectations with signage and demonstrations, and improve our recycling rates.

BG 4th Grade students surveyed each classroom’s trash and recycling bins on a weekly basis, to see how well we recycle amongst our own classes, grades, and schools across the country.

The Challenge generated excitement around recycling, and has encouraged good habits of life-long environmental attentiveness.

This Year we continued to improve on our recycling Right Right! Our school-wide average for correct recycling over the 4-week period for the three years BG participated in the Challenge: Spring 2012: 52% correct Fall 2012: 59% correct Fall 2013: 79% correct

We incorporated this method of survey in our Litterless Campaign monitoring & measurements

Green Cup Recycling Challenge

* The overall average "correct" in the 4-week fall survey was 79%

* The average "correct" in each of the 4-weeks of the fall survey were 82, 80, 77, and 78%, respectively

*The average for the whole school in a "spot" check conducted for the Wrigley Litterless Campaign was 86% (a 7% improvement)

*The goal for the 2014 action plan is 90%; BG will continue spot checking even after the Wrigley Litterless Campaign is over.

Using GSA’s Green Cup Recycling Challenge Survey & Measures to Recycle Right!

Spring 2014 Bin Survey for Wrigley's Litterless Campaign

On 05/21/14 survey, Mr. Cutler's 4th Grade Class surveyed one recycling bin and one trash can per class (every class in each grade). For each location, they entered the number of bins that contain at least one item that doesn't belong in the "Incorrect" columns. The also entered the number of bins that were "correct."

Date of Survey: 5/21/2014 By GradeGrade

Location of Bins

# of Correct

Trash Bins

# of Incorrect

Trash Bins

# of Correct

Recycling Bins

# of Incorrect Recycling

Bins

% of Correct

Trash Bins

% of Correct Recycle

BinsAverage Correct

Place 05/21/1

4(location

of bin)

Kindergarten 6 0 6 0 100% 100% 100% 1 K Co-Winner

1st Grade 7 0 4 3 100% 57% 79% 3 12nd Grade 7 0 7 0 100% 100% 100% 1 2 Co-Winner

3rd Grade 2 4 4 2 33% 67% 50% 6 3

4th Grade 5 1 5 1 83% 83% 83% 5 45th Grade 6 0 6 0 100% 100% 100% 1 5 Co-Winner

Total Scores 33 5 32 6Percent Correct 87% 84%

PERCENT CORRECT ALL BINS 86%

On April 11th, BG held our 4th Annual Earth Day Picnic. This year, the goal was to create minimal waste. During the week preceding the event,

school-wide announcements were made and teachers discussed with their students the importance of reducing waste and bringing waste-free lunches.

The day before the event, the Principal sent out an all-school phone message, LivingTree Post, and email.

On the day of the event, each class was given a trash bag to measure the amount of waste each class made, and parents were invited to join their students outside, and requested to support our goal by packing/bringing lunches in items that are not disposable.

We had great participation, but had some challenges with our measurements that we will work on in future Earth Day Picnics.

Earth Day Picnic for the Planet

BG was selected as one of a few HISD Schools to pilot the StyroGenie®, an innovative new technology designed to minimized trash volume created by school lunch trays

Styrofoam lunch trays are melted and compressed to substantially reduce waste volumes. Went from ~20 bags to ~7 bags of lunchtime trash

Melted “blocks” can be reused Results of StyroGenie® use:

Reduces transportation to landfills Minimizes gasoline use Reduces emissions

Reduces landfill space

StyroGenie®

Briargrove Roadrunners

Racing to Save the Earth!

Members of Briargrove ES

Eco-Action Core Team and

Kids for Saving Earth Club

Step 7. Eco-Code: BG Eco-Slogan

In addition to the School-wide Eco-Slogan, BG KSE Club recites weekly the following promise*:

The Earth is my Home, I promise to Keep It

Healthy and BeautifulI will love the Land, the Air, the Water

And all Living CreaturesI will be a Defender of My Planet

United with Friends, I will Save the Earth* Adopted with permission from Clinton Hill’s Kids for Saving Earth Club: www.kidsforsavingearth.org/

Step 7. Eco-Code: KSE Promise