Project Ideas: Waste
- Materials Waste:
- Create a Reuse Supply Storage location: store art, crafts, office, and other scrap supplies for all classrooms to share
- Start a recycling bin program for your school
- Create E-Waste Recycling Program: gather supplies from the school or hold a community drive
- Create a school education program around waste reduction
- Implement a waste sorting education program
- Pitch low to zero-waste measures to your administration, staff, or even school board!
- Hold a low-waste event for your school, grade, or class
- Start a clothing swap for uniforms or other clothes!
- Start an education campaign about second hand shopping and clothes waste
- Build with recycled materials or hold a school-wide building contest
- Launch a Green Your Holidays campaign
- Cafeteria/Food Waste:
- Start a composting education program for staff and classrooms
- Create a lunchroom waste reduction program- think about plates, utensils, and the use of disposables
- Start a composting program by putting bins in your lunchroom and creating an outdoor compost pile
- Try Meatless Mondays
- Create a lunchroom waste reduction program- think about individually wrapped food or drinks, such as cartons of milk or condiment packets
- Create a lunchroom share table
- Create a community fridge with leftover and untouched food products
Waste Project Guides & Resources
- LAUNCH free Toolkits
- Clothing Swap
- Electronic Waste Drive
- Meatless Mondays
- Waste Audit
- Learn about LAUNCH and check out their full list of toolkits!
- Seven Generations Ahead
- Environmental Protection Agency Resources
- Search these phrases in Learning Lab for lesson plans and curriculum
*subscription available through ILGSP*- Waste Eco-Audit
- Eco Audit Facilitator's Guide
- Cafeteria Waste Eco-Audit Worksheet
- Classroom Waste Eco-Audit Worksheet
- School Composting - Let’s Get Growing! A guide for student leaders and teachers
- Connect with Solid Waste Agency of North Cook County Educator Resources
- Understanding Recycling Symbols
Additional Resources & Organizations
- Comed's Carbon Free Schools Assessment
- Receive free guidance from ComEd on becoming carbon-free, instant ways to save money and reduce carbon emissions, qualification for a grant under the School Construction Law, and more!
- Mindful Waste
- SCARCE
- Based in DuPage County, focuses on recycling, Reuse Center provides books and school supplies to public school teachers and nonprofit organizations
- Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange
- Provides reusable art and school materials at no to low cost
- The Waste Shed
- Creative Reuse Center that provides reusable art and school materials at low cost
- Zero Waste Video Series — Ecocyle
- Solid Waste Agency of North Cook County Educator Resources
- Solid Waste Agency of Lake County
Project Case Studies: Waste
Check out past projects from participating schools across Illinois, and learn more about how they made it happen.
Establish a baseline
Before beginning your year-long project, we recommend conducting an audit to discover your school's current impacts. Here are some guides on how to conduct various building audits with student participation:
- LAUNCH Energy Audit Toolkit
- Ask your Green Schools Mentor to help you design an audit for your school!
If you're school is serious about sustainability, benchmarking is a great way to track your school's usage over time. There are many great platforms used for school building sustainability tracking:
- Arc Skoru - green building performance tracking
- START - sustainability tracking & roadmapping tool
- Energy Star - benchmarking portfolio manager
Project ideas
Use these project ideas for inspiration to design your own project, or follow one of the step-by-step toolkits linked below for more detailed guidance!
Start an Education Campaign about...
- Vampire Energy Waste.
- "No Idle Zone" car and school bus campaign.
- Energy-reduction techniques for lighting and lightbulbs.
- Unplugging appliances and tech for weekends and holidays.
- Walking or biking to school.
- Gas stoves vs. Electric - use an Induction Cook Plate Giveaway or Cooking Class as an incentive!
Make some easy upgrades
- Install efficient power strips
- Unplug appliances that are not in use
- Use power strips that can be turned off at night
- Replace incandescent light bulbs with LED light bulbs
- Install motion activated light switches
- Smart outlets
Daylighting Practices
- Learn about daylighting practices to reduce use of artificial lighting in your classrooms.
- Explore the effects of light pollution and brainstorm how to reduce your school's contributions.
Tour your Mechanical Room
Ask your facilities or maintenance manager to show you and your students around the mechanical rooms and learn about how your school is powered.
Renewable Energy Research & Advocacy
- Research and advocate for the use of onsite or offsite renewable energy in your school.
- Campaign for solar powered charging stations.
- Learn about Illinois' solar and wind development.
- Plan a field trip to visit a solar or wind energy farm.
- Explore ways you can generate energy, like biking and body power.
- Investigate and pitch school-wide energy measures to your maintenance staff, administration, or school board.
Project idea Toolkits & Curriculum Guides
LAUNCH Free Project Toolkits
- Energy Audit - to establish a baseline
- No Idle Zone - for cars and school buses
- Stroll N' Roll - walking and biking campaign
- Tree Planting
Learning Lab Lesson Plans & Curriculum
ILGSP participants may sign up for a learning lab subscription to gain access to lesson plans like:
- Energy Eco-Audit
- USB Charger Build
- Measuring School Sustainability
Additional Guides & Toolkits
- K-12 Energy Efficiency Student Toolkit
- Energy Efficiency Programs in K-12 Schools: EPA's Guide to Developing and Implementing Greenhouse Gas Reduction Programs
- Powering Down: A Toolkit for Behavior-Based Energy Conservation in K-12 Schools
- School Energy Eco-Audit: kWH Cheat Sheet
- Indoor Lighting Audit Worksheet
- Indoor Electronics & Appliances Worksheet
- Energy Conservation Checklists & Tools
Pair ILGSP with other energy grant opportunities
Consider using Illinois Green Schools Project and your Green Schools Mentor to help you and your school apply for an external sustainability grant!
- Comed's Carbon Free Schools Assessment - Receive free guidance from ComEd on becoming carbon-free, instant ways to save money and reduce carbon emissions, qualification for a grant under the School Construction Law, and more!
- EPA's Clean School Bus Program - Awarding $1 billion to 389 school districts for electric and low-emission school buses, delivering cleaner air for communities across the country.
Check out an energy audit in action!
See a student energy audit in Prince William County Virginia.
Project Case Studies
Get inspired by projects from previous Illinois Green Schools Project participants, and learn more about how they made it happen.
Establish a Baseline
Before beginning your year-long project, we recommend conducting an audit to discover your school's current impacts. Here are some guides on how to conduct various building audits with student participation:
- How to Perform a Landscape Irrigation Audit Basics
- School Water Audit: Texas Water Development Board
- Water Audit Warm-up: Project WET
- Water Eco-Audit
- Ask your Green Schools Mentor to help you design an audit for your school!
If you're school is serious about sustainability, benchmarking is a great way to track your school's usage over time. There are many great platforms used for school building sustainability tracking:
- Arc Skoru - green building performance tracking
- START - sustainability tracking & roadmapping tool
- Energy Star - benchmarking portfolio manager
Project Ideas
Use these project ideas for inspiration to design your own project, or follow one of the step-by-step toolkits linked below for more detailed guidance!
- Detect & reduce leaky faucets and pipes
- Install or advocate for high-efficiency water fixtures in your school
- Install a rain barrel to reduce water consumption through avenues of irrigation
- Craft a "Lawn Be Gone" campaign to impact your school and local community
- Craft a water conservation campaign to educate your school and local community on better usage habits
- Conserve water by using native plants in your school
- Start an education campaign about second hand shopping and how much water is used in clothes manufacturing
- Create a school garden using water efficient irrigation
- Build an outdoor learning space focused on water -think rainwater streams, water pumps, and troughs
- Tour your water facilities with your maintenance or facilities manager
- Discuss ways that facilities could use less water:
- drip irrigation
- replacing grass with less water intensive plants
- letting the football field go dry for the summer
- Research flood and drought resilience plans
- Create an education campaign about laundry habits and water conservation
Project Idea Toolkits and Curriculum Guides
LAUNCH Free Project Toolkits
Learning Lab Lesson Plans and Curriculum
ILGSP Participants may sign up for a learning lab subscription to gain access to lesson plans like:
- Water Eco-Audit
- Eco Audit Facilitators Guide
- School Water Audit Student Worksheet
- Water Quality & Conservation: Climate Change Effects
- Stage 1: Why I Choose to Investigate Water and Energy
- Design and Build a Rain Garden
- Measuring School Sustainability
Water Project Tools & Resources
- Water Meter Reading 101
- How to Read a Water Meter
- Water Volume Calculator
- Catch Can Test for Irrigation Uniformity and Rate
- WaterSense for Kids: EPA
- Educational Facilities Water Usage: EPA
- How much water does a leaking faucet waste?
- Making a Splash with Data
- CPS Water Quality Testing
- Drip Calculator: How much water does a leaking faucet waste?
- School Water Conservation Case Study
Project Case Studies
Get inspired by projects from previous Illinois Green Schools Project participants, and learn more about how they made it happen.
Designations for companies delivering certifications
Certifications for companies to validate social impacts
Reporting and transparency frameworks for sustainability programs
