Orono Public Schools
Schumann Elementary School & Orono Intermediate School
Schumann Elementary School
Grades: K – 2Student Enrollment: ~535
Program Rollout Date: September 4, 2007
No. of Recycling Stations In Cafeteria: 1 (see diagram)
Kitchen/Serving Area
Recycling Station Characteristics: 2 5-gal. pails for liquids
1 plastic tub with soapy water for silverware
1 32-gal. Brute container for recyclables (Blue)
1 32-gal. Brute container for trash (Red)
1 32-gal. Brute container for organics (Grey)
Dish room counter for stacking trays
Temporarily using wooden tables for sliding trays until
custom-made recycling centers are received.
Signage/Posters: Handmade signs were made for each container (color coded), which includes
actual examples of items that go into each container.
Types of Serving Trays/Eating Utensils: Reusable trays and silverware.
Recycling Station Monitoring/Assistance: First week had a college student majoring in
environmental studies working side-by-side with a
parent volunteer. Now using a combination of parent
volunteers, custodial staff, and Green Team students.
SSO Backend Servicing: Dumpster serviced by Randy’s Sanitation once a week.
Observations: Good sorting of materials. Lines have a tendency to back up since a lot of kids are released at once and monitors need to take time working with some kids to teach them the new system. Ideally, the kids won’t need assistance much longer but considering the ages of the kids (Kindergarten through 2nd grade) there will likely be the need for continued assistance for a while.
Orono Intermediate School
Grades: 3 – 5 Student Enrollment: ~ 570
Program Rollout Date: September 4, 2007
No. of Recycling Stations In Cafeteria: 1 (see diagram)
Recycling Station Characteristics: 1 5-gal. pail for liquids
1 plastic tub with soapy water for silverware
1 32-gal. Brute container for recyclables (Blue)
1 32-gal. Brute container for trash (Red)
1 32-gal. Brute container for organics (Grey)
Dish room counter for stacking trays
Existing setup will be replaced in near future with custom-made
recycling centers.
Signage/Posters: Handmade signs were made for each container (color coded), which includes
actual examples of items that go into each container. These were placed on the wall
above the dish room counter. Additionally, signs provided by Hennepin County
are clipped to the handle of each 32-gal. Brute container. These are essentially at
eye level and easy for the kids to see and read.
Types of Serving Trays/Eating Utensils: Reusable trays and silverware.
Recycling Station Monitoring/Assistance: First week had a college student majoring in
environmental studies working side-by-side with a
parent volunteer. Now using a combination of parent
volunteers, custodial staff, and Green Team students.
SSO Backend Servicing: Dumpster serviced by Randy’s Sanitation once a week.
Observations: Good sorting of materials. Lines can back up when a lot of kids are released at once. A bulletin board was made explaining the composting process and is now hanging up and used for educational purposes. Also, monitors are using a long handled grabber to more easily retrieve items placed in the wrong bin. Can eliminate the use of gloves or the “yuck” factor when removing contaminants.
Postscript: As of September 28th one of the custom-made recycling centers has been received and is being used in the Intermediate school. The recycling center is a modified cafeteria serving unit on wheels as depicted below.
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