Cobb County Schools Are going "Green"

Beginning with the 09-10 school year, all schools will begin a comprehensive recycling program.  Teachers and students will be trained on what products can and cannot be recycled.  The goal is to be good stewards of the environment with recycling as much as possible and decreasing the amount of waste going to the landfills.

The new recycling program's goals are based on the three "R's":  Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  To be successful, a recycling program takes active participation by everyone at the school.  This new effort does not replace any recycling program currently in place.  This new program uses "Single Stream Recycling".  It is much simpler to implement, in that all recyclable materials are collected in the same container and after pick-up, they are separated at the recycling center.  School staff and students will have lists posted and be trained on the types of materials that can be recycled.

Unfortunately , not all materials can be recycled.  Once polystyrene (foam) trays are contaminated with food, they cannot be recycled without the trays being washed.  Furthermore, there is no facility within the region that recycles polystyrene trays.  As part of the "Reduce" program, staff and students will be trained on how to stack these trays.  Stacking trays has shown to reduce the volume of waste by nearly 40%!  Schools will have special containers for tray stacking.

Cobb County School District is committed to conserving resources and being good stewards of the environment.  Reduce, Reuse and Recycle is the beginning of a long lasting program that will teach our students to understand the many benefits of "Going Green".