Fayetteville public schools are working to reduce the amount of waste going to the Tontitown landfill by recycling paper, plastic, and aluminum cans at all schools. The high school service learning class is also encouraging residential recycling by working with elementary students.

On February 18th, high school service learning students visited each classroom at Happy Hollow and provided a 20-minute interactive presentation about recycling. They emphasized respect for city recycling staff by properly washing out recyclables, showed examples of recycled products, and explained why Fayetteville only recycles number 1 and 2 plastics.

“It was a new, fun experience to teach the kids about things that can/cannot be recycled,” said high school service learning student Chris Campbell about visiting Happy Hollow.

Louise Mann of Waste Reduction Resources helped coordinate the recycling workshops. Louise and Brian Pugh, City of Fayetteville Waste Reduction Coordinator, also visited the service learning class in January to discuss recycling basics and provide facts about garbage and recycling.

You can learn more about Fayetteville recycling here: http://www.accessfayetteville.org/government/solid_waste/index.cfm

After the introductory lesson on recycling and garbage, students practiced grade specific scripts to prepare before visiting Happy Hollow. Students were provided a recycling bin with a mix of recyclables and recycled products such as plastic lumber and cellulose insulation made from newspaper to show the elementary students.

“I felt really prepared and I like that we had examples of things to pass around the room. All of my students did well, and I think they had fun,” said high school student Emily Hokett afterwards.

Students were thankful to work with Happy Hollow as the pilot school on this project and many were impressed with how much the students already knew about recycling.

High school student Bobby Stinson said, “I was surprised at how knowledgeable the fifth graders were about recycling. Overall the presentation was successful, and I would love to do similar service in the future.”

Students will have the opportunity to evaluate and revise their presentations and work with other elementary school classes throughout the spring.