Tackling trash in Sullivan County schools

Students and teachers drive recycling efforts

By SANDY LONG

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — Some are striding ahead; others are striving to catch up. But all of Sullivan County’s public schools are angling toward increased recycling efforts. Here’s what’s happening at the Eldred, Livingston Manor, Monticello and Sullivan West central school districts.

Most of the schools, including elementary, middle and high schools, have begun recycling paper, plastics, cardboard and cans. Use of glass in schools has been greatly diminished, so there is very little of it at the campuses. Parent-teacher-student organizations (PTSO) at many of the schools recycle printer-ink cartridges and cell phones in order to raise money for PTSO activities.

Eldred Central School (ECS) currently leads the recycling pack. Four years ago, ECS began recycling paper and today practices a multi-faceted approach to the trash it generates. Every classroom, including those in MacKenzie Elementary, has a recycling bin created from reused cardboard boxes. Students manage most of the recycling program, and teachers oversee their efforts.

High school art teacher Jennifer O’Neil helps students reclaim toner cartridges to raise money for the yearbook; school-to-work coordinator Bob Skibinski oversees collection of refundable bottles and uses the money to reward them for various achievements like the mask contest coordinated by art teacher Paula MacDonald. Students even collect soda can pulltabs as a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House. The PTSO recently conducted a scrap-metal drive, raising nearly $1,400 and helping the community to get rid of old appliances and other metal goods.

Livingston Manor ranks high, too, by recycling most of the usual items, plus cans and plastic bottles from its kitchen; school personnel also take care of fluorescent bulbs, ballasts and high-intensity discharge lights. The school also recycles obsolete computers through Advanced Recovery Inc., in Port Jervis, which specializes in handling the hazardous materials contained in many electronics. Eldred and Monticello also recycle computers in this manner.

Sullivan West High School is preparing to excess a large number of computers and hopes to initiate recycling solutions to any that aren’t purchased for reuse. District superintendent Kenneth Hilton said he’d like to see the district step up its recycling efforts. “We’re not doing as much as we should, but it’s on our radar for the upcoming school year,” he said.

Hilton said that current recycling efforts have come about due to efforts by students and teachers associated with the environmental studies class. “Board members are pressing in this direction and students from the elementary school recently inquired about plastic containers in the cafeteria, so there’s a lot of interest in recycling,” he added.

Sullivan West Elementary School wants to ramp up its student-sponsored recycling program this fall, too, and has formed an environmental club to help the effort along. A nature trail and outdoor classroom are underway, and fifth grade classes kicked off a major initiative last year to replace plastic bags with reusable ones. They are now selling the bags to raise money for a field trip. Custodial cleaning supplies are going green and a sale of surplus furniture and equipment is planned for early summer.

Serving 3,600 students, the county’s largest school district, Monticello, has not yet implemented a recycling program, but is making efforts to get on board. According to district superintendent Patrick Michel, the district has set a goal to recycle 80 percent of its trash as it launches a new program in September. It is still looking for answers to managing the remaining 20 percent of its waste stream attributed to food from its cafeterias, and has even considered providing the food to regional pig farmers.

Eighth-grade students at Robert J. Kaiser Middle School, part of the Monticello district, have implemented a mixed-paper and newspaper recycling program and are eager to add more items to the effort.

Earlier this year, Sullivan County recycling coordinator Bill Cutler helped the Monticello school district to analyze its trash and made suggestions for implementing a program. The district has pursued several grants to help fund the purchase of things like recycling bins and has “revved up” its environmental clubs to involve more students in the process, said Michel.