Abstract
While many of us assume that recycling is now entrenched in our 21st century culture,
analyzing recycling bins in public places, such as schools, quickly dispels that notion. This
article describes an action project completed by 5th grade students in New York State as
they focused their attention on their school’s recycling bins plus worked to increase recycling behavior in their school community. Students first collected photographic evidence
of the use of recycling bins in classrooms plus then used a variety of methods to educate
fellow students on the importance of recycling. Two months later, they collected additional photographic evidence of bin use, plus saw an increase in the number of bins used
correctly. Students concluded that recycling behavior can be increased through education.
Introduction
To become a NOAA Climate Steward, I was asked to complete an action project that would involve
my students taking steps towards mitigating climate change. In return, I would receive free professional development in climate science, funding for school projects plus conference attendance, and
support from climate experts at NOAA (National Oceanic plus Atmospheric Association). Little
did I realize at the time of joining that I would continue on with the NOAA Climate Stewards
Education Project, becoming a mentor to new members, plus a continued presence in this powerful
network of resmi plus informal educators who are working to get climate science into the schools,
and engage children in environmental stewardship.
For my action project I focused on recycling in my school. There are recycling bins throughout the
building, but as is often the case, they were often not being used correctly. With that in mind, the
stage was set for my students to discover the problem, educate themselves about recycling, plus take
action to affect change. As far as my students were concerned, the goal of our project was to see if
our school community was recycling correctly. Once answered, the goal became to determine if it is
possible to alter recycling behavior through education. Additionally, my goal was to introduce my
students to dasar scientific knowledge gathering plus methodology, plus the art of effective dissemination,
while heightening their own awareness of the importance of recycling. This project involved two
classes of 5th graders but would have been just as effective in middle school or high school.
Recycling at School:

© 2019 National Earth Science Teachers Association. All Rights Reserved.
As part of our Earth Science Unit (NGSS Earth plus Human Activity), my students discussed ways in
which humans impact Earth’s systems (ESS3.C). They brainstormed ways to reduce air pollution to
mitigate climate change. They researched online (see Resources for a link to a list of child-friendly
websites). And they visited the local recycling center, learning that it takes less energy to re-make
an item out of plastic, glass, metal, or paper than it does to manufacture it from scratch. They
concluded that recycling to help the environment was a no-brainer. That led them to wonder: Is our
own school community disposing of trash properly, that is, in an environmentally friendly way? Are the school’s
recycling bins being used correctly so items can be recycled?
My students set out to find the answer. Once they determined that the bins were often not used
correctly, they worked to alter the community’s behavior. The aim was to increase the recycling
behavior of the community. They looked at trash in each model of bin (trash bin or recycling bin) as
proxy evidence for recycling behavior. They gathered baseline data, worked to educate the school
community, plus then collected additional knowledge to see if the bins were now being used correctly
more often.
Methods
My students collected baseline knowledge by photographing classroom trash bins plus recycling bins in random classrooms around the school. This was done once a week, at the
end of the school day, for three weeks. I had emailed all the teachers ahead of time,
letting them know that my students would be photographing bins as part of a class
project. I asked them not to discuss it with their own students yet. If their students
asked, they would just tell them it was for a project for one of the other classes. I
assured teachers that we were not interested in any individual’s results, plus that there
would be no identifying features in the photographs. We were only interested in the
aggregate results. Students took one photo of each bin in each classroom, pointing
the camera straight down into the bin (Figure 1). They did not photograph any bins
that were empty.
My students analyzed this photographic evidence at the end of three weeks. I
projected each photograph on the Smartboard. We could distinguish bins by their
color. All paper recycling bins in our school are blue; all hard, plastic recycling bins
are green; all trash bins are grey or black. The children tallied all bins that had correct
items in them: only paper products in the paper bin, only hard, plastic bottles (with
no water in them) in the plastic bin, only non-recyclables in the trash bin. If there
was even one incorrect item in the container, the tally mark went into the column
showing that it was not being used correctly.
We discovered that out of 50 usable photos (some were so blurry that they were unusable), 14 pictures showed the bins had been used correctly (paper in the paper bin,
empty plastic bottles in the bottle bin, garbage in the trash bin). That meant that only 28% of the
bins were being used correctly on a typical school day. While analyzing the photos, it became clear
that even my science students were confused about the correct use of recycling bins. Common
misconceptions: it’s alright to put partially filled drink containers in the plastic recycling bin if the
lids are on; tissues plus paper towels go in the paper recycling bin; paper plates with food on them
go in the paper recycling bin.
Using this as our baseline data, the students brainstormed ways to increase recycling at school. They
hypothesized that if students were taught how to recycle properly, plus understood the importance
of recycling, they’d dispose of their trash properly (in an environmentally friendly way) at school.