Project Learning Tree Workshop Helps Teachers Bring Recycling into Their Classrooms
Posted on October 01, 2009 by Lisa Schabenberger
News Release - September 29, 2009
Media Contact - Renee Strnad 919.515.5518
Raleigh, N.C. – Project Learning Tree® partnered with the North Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance to present a two-day educational workshop for 22 teachers and solid waste professionals in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, September 24 and 25. The workshop included educational activities to help bring lesson plans focusing on waste and recycling into the classroom, as well as tours of a local material recovery facility and landfill.
“With the plastic bottle ban that begins on October 1, this is a great time to help get teachers excited about recycling in their schools, as well as providing them tools and ideas to help that happen,” said Kelley Dennings, Education and Outreach Project Manager with DPPEA. “Every second, 100 plastic bottles are disposed of in North Carolina. Now they must be recycled, not thrown into landfills.”
Teachers enjoyed the workshop because the mix of resource professionals and teachers led to great discussions regarding aspects of the recycling and waste industries in North Carolina, including economics. Babita Thakker, a teacher at Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy in Charlotte said “The current information about recycling was valuable, and it was interesting to learn how daily small choices could reduce waste at schools and in the home.”
To learn more about the upcoming plastic bottle ban, visit www.p2pays.org/BannedMaterials/PlasticBottles/. North Carolina citizens are also encouraged to sign the Plastic Bottle Recycling Pledge located on the web site.
For more information about PLT in North Carolina, contact Renee Strnad, North Carolina State University, at 919.515.5518 or visit http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/plt.
Teachers at the PLT workshop take the pledge to recycle plastic bottles. L-R: Teresa Stewart, Suzzanne Fields, Farrah Lamb, Babita Thakker.
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