Sustainability
Together with the monthly CRV collection, Walnut Acres is now collecting the "non-recyclables" with TerraCycle!
Drop off the following items every 1st full week of the month:
- food pouches, e.g. GoGo Squeeze and various other brands
- foil lined chip bags
- foil lined granola/cereal/protein bar wrappers
Where to drop off Terracycle? You can drop off your Terracycle at the car line; you will find a blue can marked "Terracycle drop off" by the bench, next to the CRV can.
DO YOU WANT TO BECOME A
RECYCLE CLUB PARENT VOLUNTEER?
Please email sustainability@walnutacrespfc.net and we will add you to the Konstella "Recycle Club" group for updates and volunteering requests. Thanks for your interest!
Walnut Acres won the Wastebuster Award 2018/19 amongst other schools, for recycling 80% of their garbage! YAY WALNUT ACRES!!!
INTRODUCING YOUR WALNUT ACRES RECYCLE CLUB TEAM:
Recycle Club leads
Monique Pickering (PFC Sustainability Committee) & Libby Oda
Libby and Monique are our two passionate Recycle Club leaders with lots of love for our kids, our planet and the environment.
They are here to help and support our Walnut Acres staff and children in all questions concerning the environment and recycling on campus.
If you want to make your class room more green or have an upcoming event or project, ask Monique or Libby for eco friendly ideas and help at sustainability@walnutacrespfc.net.
Jeff Horan (Webmaster)
Jeff keeps everyone up to date with news on our PFC page.
Mike Jahnke (Recycling Coordinator)
Mike makes our recycling to cash. Every month Mike takes the by families donated cans and bottles to the Martinez recycling center and raises money for our PFC fund.
Sha Clark (Teacher Connection)
Sha is one of our 5th grade teachers. She knows lots about recycling and brings a connection between us and our teachers.
WHAT WE DO OTHER THAN RECYCLING
We are part of Idle Free Bay Area.
Many people idle their cars because they think that turning the car off frequently harms the engine. That is a myth. Idling is harmful to our air quality and our health.
Idling happens while...
- waiting to pick someone up from school, sports practice, camp or library
- running errands
- sitting at a drive-through or car wash
Walnut Acres is an "idle free zone".
Idling means leaving a vehicle's engine running when it is parket or not in use.
As part of the Idle Free Bay Area effort
Make a pledge to:
Turn off the car's engine if you'll be waiting more than 30 seconds and help us all breathe easier.
Crayola Colorcycle - Walnut Acres Recycle Club provides collection boxes in each classroom where children and teachers can collect their dried up markers. Boxes will be checked regularly and picked up when full.
Let us know if your classroom needs a collection box or your box is overflowing. Email sustainability@walnutacrespfc.net.
TerraCycle - Walnut Acres Recycle Club collects empty food pouches and sends them off for recycling via a program called
TerraCycle.
Psst!... a little secret, you can even drop off the ones your kids eat at home. We won't tell anybody! (contact sustainability@walnutacrespfc.net for recycling stations)
PlanetRenu - Walnut Acres is now working in collaboration with a local supplier for environmentally friendly lunch packaging and accessories.
You can order your eco friendly lunch supplies under the following link:
Planet Renu will donate 10% of all sales back to Walnut Acres PFC and Recycle club.
Spork pouch order process:
Order your "Spork Pouch" here:
https://sites.google.com/a/walnutacrespfc.net/walnut-acres-pfc/sustainability/wa-recycle-club-fundraiser or go to Subpages (1) at the bottom of the Sustainability page.
Sustainability Committee – Eco-room parent guidelines:
We are trying to improve our diversion rates campus wide. This means reducing landfill waste and increasing recycling and composting. Students are working hard to reduce their lunch waste and they have made great improvements! Classrooms are another potential source of waste and we have some guidelines for ways to make Walnut Acres more sustainable. Below are suggestions for class events and celebrations. Please contact us (Monique Pickering or Libby Oda) if you have questions or suggestions at: sustainability@walnutacrespfc.net
Best choices
o 100% compostable items (paper cups, paper plates, paper table coverings, wooden cutlery (our regional waste company does not provide a feasible composting facility to compost plant based plastic)
o For parties, ensure that all waste makes it into the right bins.
o Instead of providing goodie bags, consider donating items the teacher may need for the classroom (eg. books, technology, yoga balls or straight cash for the teacher’s discretionary fund, etc.)
Good alternatives
o For goodie bags: compostable bags (fabric or paper bags), eco-friendly content (eg. fair-trade pencils, reusable spork, flower or vegetable seeds, drawing pages, etc)
Avoid
o Plastic single-use water bottles
o Plastic cups, plates, cutlery and plastic table cloths for all class parties
o Non-recyclable juice boxes
o Sack lunches for field trips
Also, please consider collaborating with your teacher to see if they have any ideas to reduce the daily waste stream created in the classrooms. Thank you, your help and intervention is so appreciated to make Walnut Acres a greener school!