Green Activities During the 2023-2024 School Year

 
September – Volunteer Fair (usually first day of school) / Recycling and Composting refresh in the cafeteria with Waste Free Lunch (WFL) Day

October – National Walk/Bike to School Day (October 4, 2023)/ Halloween Costume, Boot & Coat Drive / Riverside Fall Fundraiser WFL Donation for Auction.
 
November – American Recycle Day (Nov 15th)
 
December –Merry, Bright and Waste-Free Holidays (Community activity promotion)

January – Recycle & Composting refresh in the cafeteria / Anti-Idling
 
February – Anti – Idling / Waste Free Lunch Day

March – Waste Free Lunch (WFL) Day

April – Earth Week (Earth Day - Apr 22nd)/Textile Drive
 
May – National Bike/Walk to School Day (beginning of May)
 
June – Book Swap/Drive

 

Note: Battery & TREX Drives ongoing with onsite collection bins 

 

Click here to Volunteer today!

 


Riverside Elementary school has been 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 our Earth Day 2019 assembly.   This was a great collaboration between the PTA, the teachers, and the students, and we will 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.


Recycling

  

 COSTUME, BOOT, AND COAT DRIVE

 
 
 
 
Thinking about Halloween costumes?  Need new boots and coats? Want to get rid of old costumes, boots, and coats? Riverside's Halloween, Boot & Coat drive begins Monday, October 23rd, and continues through Friday, October 27th. Donation bins will be outside the front of the school each day from 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. and 2:30 to 3:00 p.m.  Please consider donating your clean, gently used items.
 
 
Collected boots and coats will be available for ALL families and staff FOR FREE on November 3rd from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.- location and more detail to follow soon! Unclaimed boots and coats and all Halloween costumes will be donated. 
 

Battery Recycling
Please drop off used batteries at the collection bin inside the entrance of school. The Green Committee takes the batteries to be recycled at the Holly Hill Recycling facility in Greenwich throughout the year.
 
 
Crayola Colorcycle Program
Riverside participates in the Crayola ColorCycle – an amazing program devised to turn used markers into energy!  Students and teachers can drop off used markers at the collection bin inside the entrance of school. The markers are sent to a facility where they will be converted into clean fuel at the end of the year.

Anti-Idling Campaign

 

Idling pollutes the air and harms health. Children are especially vulnerable to the health dangers of vehicle emissions, which have been linked to serious human illnesses. We encourage parents to be mindful and not to leave cars running while waiting in the pickup line.

 
 
School Garden
 
Come check out our school gardens! Over the summer, Riverside families volunteered to maintain our school garden by watering, weeding and harvesting ripe vegetables.  In addition, our rain garden which is full of native plants that attract beneficial pollinators, birds, and butterflies. Gardening Club.
 
 
Riverside School Reusable Tote Bags

To coincide with the bag-free initiative in our town, Riverside Tote Bags available for purchase! They conveniently fold into a small pouch, are made from recycled material and only cost $5 (cash or check only). Click here to buy.

  

Parent Volunteers
The Green Committee welcomes all parents who are interested in helping support any of the above initiatives; working together we can foster a greener and more sustainable school environment. Please join the Green Committee by emailing Hillary Harper and Renata Freitas at  riversidegreencommittee@gmail.com.
 
Green Schools
 
Recycling: Riverside School participates in Greenwich's single stream recycling program. The Riverside Recyclers program allows students to take active leadership roles in encouraging their peers to properly sort recycling, trash and compost in the newly designed cafeteria. We hope these lessons and action continue at home as well.
 
Composting: Compost bins were installed outside the school in November 2015. Our students learn about composting through presentations in the cafeteria and food sorting. Parent workshops were also introduced to teach about reducing food waste and how to start and maintain a home compost.
 
Please email riversidegreencommittee@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like to sign up to get involved. 
 
 

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