Title: ORGANICS RECYCLING @ MPS: A Guide for Volunteers
1ORGANICS RECYCLING _at_ MPS A Guide for Volunteers
2Organics Recycling
3WHY ORGANICS?
- Benefits
- Diverts a large percentage of your school's waste
from going to landfills and the incinerator - Contributes to the creation of a useful and
environmentally friendly product --- compost - Creates an educational opportunity for your
students - Cultivates thoughtful attitudes among students,
teachers, and staff
4WHY ORGANICS?
- Financial Benefits
- Less disposal cost - The tipping fee paid by
haulers to dispose of organics is less than the
tipping fee for solid waste (15 per ton vs about
41.85 per ton). As organics are much heavier
than the plastics that are kept out, savings can
be substantial. - Tax exemption - Source Separated Organics (SSO)
is exempt from the county solid waste fee of
14.5 and state solid waste tax of 17. If we
recycle a lot of organics, this could save the
district money. - Reduced pick up frequency - Organics customers
are finding their trash hauler can pick up less
frequently, saving labor, fuel, and truck
maintenance costs which are built into your pick
up fees.
5Organics Recycling
- Thank you for Volunteering!
- Organics is fun, easy, and important
- You can have a real impact- on kids and on the
planet! - Step-by-step procedures to follow
6PROCEDURES
- End of lunch period
- Your job will be to supervise students as they
move through the recycling stations
7PROCEDURES
- Liquids
- Students will dump all liquids (from milk
cartons, juice boxes, etc.) into a bucket with a
strainer that will remove any solids - Engineers will flush liquid down the drains
- This process reduces the weight of garbage and
saves money when it is hauled away
8PROCEDURES
- Food Scraps
- Students will deposit food scraps and other
compostables (napkins, wax paper, milk cartons,
etc) into the green organics barrel - The bag is compostable (and expensive!). Please
make sure it is full before it is disposed of - Students will crush milk cartons to save space in
the bags
9PROCEDURES
- Mixed Recycling
- Students will place all aluminum cans, tin cans,
clean aluminum foil, cardboard, plastic bottles
with necks (and their caps), and paper in the
blue mixed recycling container.
10PROCEDURES
- Trash
- After disposing of all mixed and organics
recycling materials, students will place all
remaining garbage in red or gray trash barrels
11PROCEDURES
- Lunch trays
- Students will stack trays neatly. This reduces
the amount of space that trays take up in the
expensive compostable bags. The trays will then
be placed in the compost barrel.
12TIPS OF THE TRADE
Examples of items to be placed in each container
- Green-Organics
- Fruit and vegetables
- Meat, fish, and bones
- Bread, pasta, and baked goods
- Eggshells
- Dairy products
- Coffee grounds
- Paper towels and napkins
- Paper plates, cups, and containers
- Empty milk and juice cartons (not foil lined)
- Pizza boxes
- Egg cartons (not Styrofoam)
- Frozen and refrigerated food boxes
- Coffee filters and tea bags
- Plants and cut flowers
- Wooden sticks (corndog, popsicle, stir)
- Blue- Mixed Recycling
- Aluminum Cans
- Glass Bottles
- Plastic bottles with necks (caps OK)
- Office paper
- Cardboard
- Post-It Notes
- Red- Trash
- Candy and chocolate wrappers
- Cellophane
- Cereal or cracker bags (liner inside the box)
- Chip bags
- Condiment packets
- Dental Floss
- Drinking straws
- Foil yogurt lids
- Foil lined containers
- Gum
- Pens
- Plastic bags
- Plastic without a neck (yogurt container, molded
food container, toys, etc.) - Plastic plant pots and trays
- Saran wrap
- Styrofoam trays and cups
Please visit mpsgoesgreen.mpls.mn.k12.us for a
more detailed list
13TIPS OF THE TRADE
- To ensure a smooth process
- Check school lunches for content when you arrive.
This will help you prepare for sorting materials
at the end of the lunch period. - During the first five minutes of each lunch
period, walk around to the tables and remind
students it is easiest to crush milk cartons
while seated (before coming up to the barrels)
and paper bags must be emptied of all plastic and
other non-organics - Make sure that students form an orderly line
around the containers. This will help you ensure
that they are sorting correctly. - When students place paper bags in the green
organics barrels, try to confirm that there is no
non-organics material in the bags.
14MPS Policies Procedures for Volunteers IMPORTANT
!!
- As a volunteer in the Minneapolis Public Schools
(MPS), you are required to know the following
district policies and procedures - Volunteers must always serve as role models. When
serving as a MPS volunteer, an individual must
refrain from inappropriate behaviors including,
but not limited to, the following - Use of profanity
- Use of drugs or alcohol
- Carrying weapons
- Discussion of inappropriate topics
- Making sexual or emotional advances to a
student - Selling merchandise or actively promoting his or
her business - Proselytizing (persuading to a way of thinking
or acting) - Giving gifts or money
- Volunteers attire should comply with the
schools dress code. - All volunteers must sign in and out at a location
designated by the principal before proceeding to
their volunteer site and must wear an identifying
nametag provided by the school - Volunteers should not be left alone with a
student. There should always be visual or
auditory contact between the volunteer and a
school employee. - With the exception of verbally and politely
requesting the students attention, volunteers
are not to discipline students. It is all right
to ask them not to use inappropriate or
disrespectful language in your presence. All
discipline concerns should be directed to the
appropriate school employee. - Volunteers must respect privacy of the students
and students families by not talking about a
students academic progress, behavior, or a
school-related incident without permission from
the student (if emancipated or 18) or students
parents/guardians. Any discussion of a student
(other than the volunteers own child) is
restricted to the students parent or guardian,
the students teacher, the guidance counselor or
another school employee or volunteer who has a
need to know. When in doubt about whether
information can be shared, check first with the
students teacher.
15MPS Policies Procedures for Volunteers (cont.)
Abuse As you build trust with your students, you
may become aware of abuse in their lives. This
abuse may be sexual, physical, or emotional. By
law, you are required to report any suspected
abuse. You can report such suspicions to the
teacher, principal, or school social worker. You
CANNOT promise secrecy to your student, but you
must maintain his/her confidentiality by not
telling other students or your own
friends. Student Contact Do not ask students for
their home phone number, address, or email
address do not give them yours. Do not socialize
with your student(s) outside of school. Do not
give your student(s) gifts. Chances of
misunderstanding are high and you do not want to
be second-guessed. Tobacco Use The use of
tobacco products by staff, students, visitors
(such as volunteers), or contractors is
prohibited on school district property. School
district property includes, but is not limited
to buildings, grounds, and vehicles owned,
leased or contracted by the school district and
school sponsored functions. Touch We strongly
urge you not to initiate physical contact with
your students. You may be working with young
people who may not be aware of appropriate
boundaries. Keep in mind that your student(s) may
see your physical contact as a sign of
preferential treatment. Volunteer Dismissal The
school principal has the right to dismiss any
volunteer who is deemed to have engaged in
inappropriate behavior including, but not limited
to, that described above. If a volunteer is
dismissed, the MPS district and the office of
Volunteer Services reserve the right not to
reassign the volunteer at another school.
16Volunteer Registration
- Each volunteer must complete a registration form
(http//commed.mpls.k12.mn.us/Volunteer_Applicatio
n) and be notified of their approval by Volunteer
Services prior to the start of work. - MPS Volunteer Services will work as quickly as
possible to get volunteer applications processed.
- When a volunteer is approved, they and the
schools organics coordinator will be notified
via email. - Volunteers can help speed up the approval
process by listing references that are available
to answer the reference call during school hours.
Also, volunteers should notify their references
that the call is coming.
17THANK YOU!
Organics recycling can only succeed with your
support and dedication. We thank you for your
commitment to our students and our planet!