The Adams Clermont Solid Waste District is pleased to partner with the Clermont Soil and Water Conservation District to provide several general environmental education programs and services to students and adults around Clermont County. The Education Coordinator, Elea Cooper, is available to assist schools, scout groups, libraries, or other organizations with general environmental education, recycling programs, solid waste reduction projects, food waste reduction/diversion programs, and environmental grant applications.

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION:
The Education Coordinator is available to assist school administrators and educators with the development and implementation of specialized environmental educational programs for their schools. Classroom presentations, technical assistance, and other materials are available to educators on a variety of topics pertaining to waste reduction, recycling, and other environmental topics.

FOOD WASTE REDUCTION/DIVERSION PROGRAMS, SHARE TABLES, AUDITS:
School cafeterias generate a large amount of unnecessary food waste on a daily basis, which is not only costly to the school at the point of purchase, but also at the point of disposal. The Educational Coordinator is available to conduct an in-person food waste audit to identify the types and quantities of the foods and beverages that are commonly disposed of, and can develop a program to potentially reduce such waste. Share tables, carts, or refrigerators are a common tool to reduce waste. Each food waste reduction/diversion program is specifically designed to meet the individual needs of the requesting school. Several components of this program have been successfully implemented in multiple schools around Clermont County.

SCHOOL SUPPLY RECYCLING / RE-USE COLLECTION:
During the course of each school year, plenty of good, usable school supplies are routinely discarded. The school supply collection program was established to collect these unused or gently used school supplies and utensils (glue sticks, crayons, pens, pencils, notebooks, binders, etc.) in order to make those items available for other students to use. This program diverts hundreds of pounds of usable school supplies from the landfill annually while providing necessary school supplies to families facing financial hardship. The Educational Coordinator is available to set up this program in your school, and can provide signage and  containers to use at collection points.

END-OF-YEAR SCHOOL RECYCLING PROGRAMS:
Like clockwork at the end of each school year, students and staff typically perform the annual ritual of ridding their desks, lockers, and classrooms of mountains of paperwork and other accumulated material. A 2019 study conducted in three Clermont County elementary schools showed that the vast majority of the material disposed of during these annual clean-outs is recyclable. Each school in the study collected an average of over two tons of recyclable material during their end-of-year school clean-out, which averaged around seven pounds of recyclable material per person. The Educational Coordinator is available to assist school administrators or custodial staff with setting up a end-of-year recycling program in their school.

SCHOOL RECYCLING CONTAINERS AVAILABLE:
A large amount of the waste generated in schools, offices and other institutions can be recycled. Examples of recyclable materials commonly found in many buildings include paper, cardboard, cups, and other beverage containers. Once a recycling plan is established in a facility, the Solid Waste District can provide indoor recycling containers to be used year-round in classrooms, hallways, cafeterias, and other areas throughout a building. These sturdy plastic recycling containers are blue in color and are branded with a white recycling logo. The containers vary in size and shape depending on the application, from a 3 gallon rectangle shaped deskside container to a 32 gallon can with lid.

To learn more about any of the above mentioned programs contact Elea Cooper, Education Coordinator, at ecooper@clermontcountyohio.gov or via phone at 513-732-7075 ext.5

Please help us learn more about the waste and recycling needs in your school by completing the School Inventory Survey Form or to sign up for assistance, please complete and return the SWRP Registration Form.