Green Activities During the 2024-2025 School Year

 

Battery, Staples Recycling & TREX Drives are ongoing with onsite collection bins

 

Food Rescue U.S. Food Donation program is ongoing in cafeteria
Click here to Volunteer to be a Food Rescue Driver

 

Click here to Volunteer today!

 

Riverside Elementary School  is recognized as a CT Green Leaf School by the State of Connecticut's Outdoor Environmental and Educational Association (COEEA). A Green Leaf Banner honoring this accomplishment was presented to the school at the Earth Day 2019 assembly. This was a great collaboration between the PTA, the teachers, and the students, and we continue to strive to be an environmental leader in the district.

 

Connecticut Green LEAF Schools are schools that: provide effective environmental and sustainability education; improve the health and wellness of students and staff; and, reduce environmental impact and cost of the resources used in the school.

 

The Riverside Green Committee works to help uphold the values of the Connecticut Green Leaf Schools by running various initiatives through the year and encouraging Riverside students to participate in national events such as Walk to School Day, Bike to School Day, America Recycles Day as well as a full week of activities to celebrate Earth Day. We hope our program helps students form greener habits that continue at home as well as at school.

 

 

Riverside School Cafeteria Sorting & Recycling

 

          

 

Riverside School is a participant in the Zero Waste School (ZWS) Program which supports students and staff in Greenwich Public Schools adopting sustainable behaviors by preventing and diverting material, which would otherwise be disposed, to the highest and most valuable waste hierarchy. Through the implementation of cafeteria-based recycling, food scrap recycling (i.e., composting), liquid separation and food donation programs, Riverside School is diverting an average of 61% of lunch items from the waste stream!

 

You can support your student(s) in understanding and independently sorting items from their school lunch by becoming familiar with Riverside’s sorting and recycling sequence and playing the Ready, Set, Sort! game for extra sorting practice. Please remind students that whenever they are not sure where something goes, it is best to throw it in the trash so as not to potentially contaminate the recycling and compost bins. When in doubt, throw it out!  

 

Please feel free to reach out to the Green Committee with any questions. 

 

Liquids

All liquids from milk, water, juice and other beverage containers can be poured into the liquid collection bin. Straws should be removed before pouring and only drinks (i.e., no syrup, yogurt, soup, cereal or condiments) may go into the liquid bin. 

 

Donate

Students can donate uneaten, unwanted, and unopened food and drink from cafeteria-based lunches via the food donation table. Temperature sensitive items are placed in a temperature-controlled food donation fridge and sealed snacks (i.e., chips, snack bars) are placed in an accompanying bin. In partnership with Food Rescue US, donations are offered to Barbara’s House on Wednesdays and the Greenwich Boys & Girls Club on Fridays. The food donation program is only for donating food from cafeteria lunches (i.e., not sharing) and food from home should go home rather than being donated. Please support this program and volunteer as a  Riverside Food Rescue Driver. 

 

Recycle

Empty drink containers like cans, milk and juice cartons, and bottles can be placed in the recycling bin. Additional items like aluminum foil, hard plastic containers like clam shells and portion cups may be recycled so long as they are relatively clean. 

 

Soft, stretchy plastic film like Ziploc bags, saran wrap, cheese stick wrappers, and plastic bags may be recycled in the Trex bins. All items must be relatively clean, dry and free from food residue.

 

Trash

Items that cannot be recycled or composted belong in the trash. Common trash items from cafeteria lunches include plastic utensils, straws, dirty food containers, juice and yogurt pouches, snack bags and wrappers and condiment packets. 

 

Compost

All food scrap items including soup, syrup, yogurt, cereal and condiments, as well as napkins and paper towels, go in the compost for organic recycling. Collected food is hauled away weekly and processed into nutrient-rich compost, some of which is returned to Riverside for school garden beds. 

 

Trays

Empty trays should be stacked neatly in designated areas. Stacking trays neatly creates more space in the waste bin and reduces the overall volume of cafeteria waste.

 

  

Battery Recycling Ensure you are disposing of old and/or used batteries by dropping them in the battery collection bin just inside Riverside’s front door. Throughout the year, the Green Committee takes the batteries to be recycled at the Holly Hill Recycling facility in Greenwich.		Halloween Costume, Boot & Coat Drive Thinking about Halloween costumes?  Need new boots and coats? Want to get rid of old costumes, boots, and coats? Riverside's Halloween Costume, Boot & Coat drive begins mid- to late October. Please check the Riverside Peek at the Week for specific details about the collection drive and offering of collected items.
Trex Plastic Film Recycling Challenge Riverside participates in the TREX Plastic Film Recycling Challenge. Students are challenged to collect and recycle polyethylene plastic film (i.e., stretchy plastic) over the school year for the chance to win high-performance Trex products. Collected plastic film is taken to participating community partners for proper recycling and logged via Riverside’s Trex account. *Individual families may also drop their plastic film in marked collection bins at participating local businesses (i.e., Kings, Balducci’s, Acme, ShopRite, Target).		Staples Recycling Program Through the Staples Recycling program, students and families can recycle old crayons, markers, pens, colored pencils and highlighters. A Staples collection bin is located inside the front doors and is regularly managed by the Green Committee.
Anti-Idling Campaign