farmington elementary school trash audit

TEAM APPROACH FOR RECYCLING AUDIT Farmington Elementary School – Friday, April 8

Students traveled the school to collect trash and recycling.

Students made sure to place the materials in the proper bin.

Materials were gathered in a central location for sorting.

Students wore protective suits and gloves for safety.

The team worked in cooperation to sort recycling.

Materials were weighed using a temporary scale.

The trash was considerably less than the recycling materials.

The effort is part of the Dakota County Enhanced Recycling Program, supported through a $30,000 grant.

Once the classroom trash was sorted, it was time to take on the lunchroom. Principal Ben Januschka motivated

students to get up for the challenge!

Lunchroom waste has an entirely different smell!

Anne Anderson, Schools for Energy Efficiency and Lena Larson, Farmington Public Utilities teamed up with students to

coordinate the effort.

Students discovered some surprises in the trash.

The entire project took over two hours to complete.

Milk cartons can be composted.

The FES Students showed strong work ethic and discipline to complete the task.

Recycling,Trash and Composting Audit

Key Results

Overall Percentage of items in the trash decreased from 80% to 12% of all items.

Organics program diverted nearly 50% of all waste generated, a savings of 17% in waste related taxes.

Administrative staff areas nearly eliminated throwing recyclable materials in the trash.