Q&A: recycling at private schools and businesses

Your eco-questions answered:

Question: Can you tell me how I can start a recycling program at our private school in Sherman Oaks?  We throw out so much paper & so many plastic bottles... Styrofoam lunch boxes... It's making me sick to think of all we waste! Thank you!! Tamar

Answer: Ah -- recycling would be so much easier for you if you were at a public school! (more on that later). Private schools are considered "commercial" -- and don't get the same recycling dealios as L.A. Unified schools. On the upside (for me), that means this post will be useful not just to private schools, but for any L.A.-based business considering a recycling program. :)

While residences and public schools can get hooked up with the city's recycling services, businesses, including private schools, basically have to set up their own. That might sound like a pain in the ass, but recycling is good for the business bottom line as well as the environment. Get a good recycling program in place, and you'll earn some money from your recyclables -- as well as cut your waste-hauling costs. The key is to think about the long-term benefits, both environmental and financial.

The easiest way to get started: Download "Mind Your Business: A Recycling Guide for Offices" (PDF) -- free from the L.A. Bureau of Sanitation. Not only will this 24-page brochure give you an overview of recycling options for your school or business, but it'll also answer a lot of questions you might have: Whether to go with a hauler or an independent recycler, how to sell the idea of recycling to management, what sort of letters and contracts to use, etc.

Then, get started! If you're having a hard time figuring out what sort of recycling needs your business has, the L.A. Solid Resources Citywide Recycling Division can help you get started by doing an assessment of your recycling needs -- including looking for ways to first reduce and reuse waste, thereby minimizing recycling and trash-hauling needs. Call (213) 485.2260 or e-mail SRCRD@san.lacity.org to set up an appointment.

For those working in an LAUSD school: Setting up a recycling program is just a phone call away! Just call Steve Casares in the Solid Resources Citywide Recycling Division at (213) 485.3903; he'll hook you up to the Joint City-LAUSD Blue Bin Recycling Program (PDF). Participating schools get free blue bins and collection services -- as well as free recycling presentations for students!

Oddly, only about half the schools -- 327 out of almost 700 in LAUSD -- are enrolled in the program thus far. Your school can be number 328 -- and perhaps the first to join in the new year.

Got a question? Ask me: greenlagirl@gmail.com. 

Comments

[Paligreengirl]

Other resources for private schools: LACC Los Angeles Conservation Corps might pick up for free. They do so for Paul Revere Middle School. Get other recycling resources at State of Ca. Dept of Conservation. Businesses can get free cardboard recycling containers at www.bottlesandcans.com. There is info there on starting a recycling program for businesses and schools. Contact reps of Pacific Palisades schools. All recycle. Contact info is at www.palisadescares.org. Several Pali schools have zero-waste lunch programs which also reduces waste.