ORGANICS RECYCLING @ MPS: A Guide for Volunteers

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ORGANICS RECYCLING _at_ MPS A Guide for Volunteers
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Organics Recycling
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WHY ORGANICS?

• Benefits
• Diverts a large percentage of your school's waste
  from going to landfills and the incinerator
• Contributes to the creation of a useful and
  environmentally friendly product --- compost
• Creates an educational opportunity for your
  students
• Cultivates thoughtful attitudes among students,
  teachers, and staff

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WHY ORGANICS?

• Financial Benefits
• Less disposal cost - The tipping fee paid by
  haulers to dispose of organics is less than the
  tipping fee for solid waste (15 per ton vs about
  41.85 per ton). As organics are much heavier
  than the plastics that are kept out, savings can
  be substantial.
• Tax exemption - Source Separated Organics (SSO)
  is exempt from the county solid waste fee of
  14.5 and state solid waste tax of 17. If we
  recycle a lot of organics, this could save the
  district money.
• Reduced pick up frequency - Organics customers
  are finding their trash hauler can pick up less
  frequently, saving labor, fuel, and truck
  maintenance costs which are built into your pick
  up fees.

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Organics Recycling

• Thank you for Volunteering!
• Organics is fun, easy, and important
• You can have a real impact- on kids and on the
  planet!
• Step-by-step procedures to follow

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PROCEDURES

• End of lunch period
• Your job will be to supervise students as they
  move through the recycling stations

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PROCEDURES

• Liquids
• Students will dump all liquids (from milk
  cartons, juice boxes, etc.) into a bucket with a
  strainer that will remove any solids
• Engineers will flush liquid down the drains
• This process reduces the weight of garbage and
  saves money when it is hauled away

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PROCEDURES

• Food Scraps
• Students will deposit food scraps and other
  compostables (napkins, wax paper, milk cartons,
  etc) into the green organics barrel
• The bag is compostable (and expensive!). Please
  make sure it is full before it is disposed of
• Students will crush milk cartons to save space in
  the bags

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PROCEDURES

• Mixed Recycling
• Students will place all aluminum cans, tin cans,
  clean aluminum foil, cardboard, plastic bottles
  with necks (and their caps), and paper in the
  blue mixed recycling container.

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PROCEDURES

• Trash
• After disposing of all mixed and organics
  recycling materials, students will place all
  remaining garbage in red or gray trash barrels

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PROCEDURES

• Lunch trays
• Students will stack trays neatly. This reduces
  the amount of space that trays take up in the
  expensive compostable bags. The trays will then
  be placed in the compost barrel.

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TIPS OF THE TRADE
Examples of items to be placed in each container

• Green-Organics
• Fruit and vegetables
• Meat, fish, and bones
• Bread, pasta, and baked goods
• Eggshells
• Dairy products
• Coffee grounds
• Paper towels and napkins
• Paper plates, cups, and containers
• Empty milk and juice cartons (not foil lined)
• Pizza boxes
• Egg cartons (not Styrofoam)
• Frozen and refrigerated food boxes
• Coffee filters and tea bags
• Plants and cut flowers
• Wooden sticks (corndog, popsicle, stir)

• Blue- Mixed Recycling
• Aluminum Cans
• Glass Bottles
• Plastic bottles with necks (caps OK)
• Office paper
• Cardboard
• Post-It Notes

• Red- Trash
• Candy and chocolate wrappers
• Cellophane
• Cereal or cracker bags (liner inside the box)
• Chip bags
• Condiment packets
• Dental Floss
• Drinking straws
• Foil yogurt lids
• Foil lined containers
• Gum
• Pens
• Plastic bags
• Plastic without a neck (yogurt container, molded
  food container, toys, etc.)
• Plastic plant pots and trays
• Saran wrap
• Styrofoam trays and cups

Please visit mpsgoesgreen.mpls.mn.k12.us for a
more detailed list
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TIPS OF THE TRADE

• To ensure a smooth process
• Check school lunches for content when you arrive.
  This will help you prepare for sorting materials
  at the end of the lunch period.
• During the first five minutes of each lunch
  period, walk around to the tables and remind
  students it is easiest to crush milk cartons
  while seated (before coming up to the barrels)
  and paper bags must be emptied of all plastic and
  other non-organics
• Make sure that students form an orderly line
  around the containers. This will help you ensure
  that they are sorting correctly.
• When students place paper bags in the green
  organics barrels, try to confirm that there is no
  non-organics material in the bags.

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MPS Policies Procedures for Volunteers IMPORTANT
!!

• As a volunteer in the Minneapolis Public Schools
  (MPS), you are required to know the following
  district policies and procedures
• Volunteers must always serve as role models. When
  serving as a MPS volunteer, an individual must
  refrain from inappropriate behaviors including,
  but not limited to, the following
• Use of profanity
• Use of drugs or alcohol
• Carrying weapons
• Discussion of inappropriate topics
• Making sexual or emotional advances to a
  student
• Selling merchandise or actively promoting his or
  her business
• Proselytizing (persuading to a way of thinking
  or acting)
• Giving gifts or money
• Volunteers attire should comply with the
  schools dress code.
• All volunteers must sign in and out at a location
  designated by the principal before proceeding to
  their volunteer site and must wear an identifying
  nametag provided by the school
• Volunteers should not be left alone with a
  student. There should always be visual or
  auditory contact between the volunteer and a
  school employee.
• With the exception of verbally and politely
  requesting the students attention, volunteers
  are not to discipline students. It is all right
  to ask them not to use inappropriate or
  disrespectful language in your presence. All
  discipline concerns should be directed to the
  appropriate school employee.
• Volunteers must respect privacy of the students
  and students families by not talking about a
  students academic progress, behavior, or a
  school-related incident without permission from
  the student (if emancipated or 18) or students
  parents/guardians. Any discussion of a student
  (other than the volunteers own child) is
  restricted to the students parent or guardian,
  the students teacher, the guidance counselor or
  another school employee or volunteer who has a
  need to know. When in doubt about whether
  information can be shared, check first with the
  students teacher.

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MPS Policies Procedures for Volunteers (cont.)
Abuse As you build trust with your students, you
may become aware of abuse in their lives. This
abuse may be sexual, physical, or emotional. By
law, you are required to report any suspected
abuse. You can report such suspicions to the
teacher, principal, or school social worker. You
CANNOT promise secrecy to your student, but you
must maintain his/her confidentiality by not
telling other students or your own
friends. Student Contact Do not ask students for
their home phone number, address, or email
address do not give them yours. Do not socialize
with your student(s) outside of school. Do not
give your student(s) gifts. Chances of
misunderstanding are high and you do not want to
be second-guessed. Tobacco Use The use of
tobacco products by staff, students, visitors
(such as volunteers), or contractors is
prohibited on school district property. School
district property includes, but is not limited
to buildings, grounds, and vehicles owned,
leased or contracted by the school district and
school sponsored functions. Touch We strongly
urge you not to initiate physical contact with
your students. You may be working with young
people who may not be aware of appropriate
boundaries. Keep in mind that your student(s) may
see your physical contact as a sign of
preferential treatment. Volunteer Dismissal The
school principal has the right to dismiss any
volunteer who is deemed to have engaged in
inappropriate behavior including, but not limited
to, that described above. If a volunteer is
dismissed, the MPS district and the office of
Volunteer Services reserve the right not to
reassign the volunteer at another school.
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Volunteer Registration

• Each volunteer must complete a registration form
  (http//commed.mpls.k12.mn.us/Volunteer_Applicatio
  n) and be notified of their approval by Volunteer
  Services prior to the start of work.
• MPS Volunteer Services will work as quickly as
  possible to get volunteer applications processed.
  
• When a volunteer is approved, they and the
  schools organics coordinator will be notified
  via email.
• Volunteers can help speed up the approval
  process by listing references that are available
  to answer the reference call during school hours.
  Also, volunteers should notify their references
  that the call is coming.

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THANK YOU!
Organics recycling can only succeed with your
support and dedication. We thank you for your
commitment to our students and our planet!