Tyler Kendall
Features Editor
On Jan. 2 NCHS switched from “source separation” to “single stream” recycling. This was the result of a special report on recycling the Courant ran in the December issue. This new recycling measure will cut down on waste and provide a rebate to the Board of Education.
After the special report was released, the administration decided to re-evaluate their recycling plans. “It let us take a better look at our recycling and set it to go forward,” Head Custodian Mark Kimball said.
While New Canaan High School already had a recycling program in place, it was time for a change. “The switch was necessary to ensure that we recycle as much as possible and be more responsible for the environment,” Manager of Facilities for New Canaan Public Schools Robert Willoughby said. “We had met all of the government mandates but felt we should do more.”
According to Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection website, “Single stream, also known as ‘fully commingled’ recycling, refers to a collection system that mixes all recyclable paper fibers and containers together in a bin at the curb and in the collection truck.”
City Carting handles waste management and recycling for New Canaan High School. “Basically all your 1-7 recyclables can go into one container now,” Jay Greco of City Carting said. “You’re going to take all the food based into one container, and everything else: all your plastics, bottles and cans, cardboard, paper, all go into a separate container.”
This new initiative will expand the scope of recyclables at the school. “It’s not just paper, it’s not just plastic bottles and cans,” Mr. Kimball said. “We’re recycling everything.”
While more material is being recycled with single stream, efficiency will not be compromised. “We negotiated a new contract that allowed us to co-mingle all of the recyclables into one large roll-off container located at the school loading dock,” Mr. Willoughby said. “We no longer have to separate the recyclables which saves us substantial labor hours.”
Student involvement is key in making single stream recycling a success. “The biggest step for this is educating the kids and getting them to do it,” Mr. Greco said.
Students can take simple steps to make the switch to single stream recycling easier. “The kids can help out by just emptying out the water bottles and the milk containers. All of it takes two seconds to do, but it saves Mark [Kimball] and his crew a lot of aggravation of doing that,” Mr. Greco said. “It really cannot have any fluids in it when it goes into the single stream, it has to be empty. Contaminated material that goes into the single stream won’t be accepted so it has to be cleaned off.”
Mr. Kimball agreed. “It’s kind of like doing your dishes at home, before you put them into your dishwasher your going to scrape them off,” he said.
Participation at all levels would benefit the school and the environment. “It would be nice to see the students just take a more conscious effort, like just bringing their garbage to the garbage can. They can even help out by just doing that, but by recycling as well,” Mr. Kimball said.
Single stream recycling will provide a new aspect to Student Coalition’s “Keep It Clean 2013” campaign. “StuCo is aware of the single stream recycling and we were actually talking about expanding the Keep It Clean 2013 campaign to include recycling when we, possibly, acquire a bottle recycling machine in the school,” Student Body Vice President Molly James said. “I think the most impact this is going to have is in the classrooms settings, especially with the amount of paper waste the school accumulates.”
The switch will also provide financial benefits for the school. “We are rebating back the Board of Education on the single stream, so that by them recycling properly, the school and the board are being reimbursed money back for the single stream material,” Mr. Greco said. “It benefits on both ends. It cuts down on the waste and all this material is being recycled. That’s number one and number two is by the rebate that my company is giving back to the town, it’s saving the town money.”
New Canaan has the chance to be a leader in the campaign for better recycling. “What would be really nice to see is New Canaan lead the way because the only other town that is doing it right now is Darien,” Mr. Kimball said. “We can still lead the way and I know we can do it better then Darien.”
All in all, the switch to single stream recycling will be a benefit for New Canaan High School and the town if students can do their part. Mr. Greco said, “Education, though, is the biggest key to making this work and asking the students to participate after they understand.”
