With the loss of community recycling in Montgomery County, educators in the school district felt a pang of regret in no longer being able to set the example of responsible management of classroom waste. For years we have been stressing to use the blue containers for paper waste in the classrooms, rinse out your soda bottles, and take your paper scraps to the blue bin.
Good news! Recycling is back in Litchfield Schools grade Pre-K through 12. After discussions with staff, teachers, and district leadership, we have partnered with DC Waste out of Hillsboro Illinois. At a minimal cost, we are working with a local, family-owned business to ensure our students are learning good habits and that we are doing our best to participate in environmentally sound practices as often as possible.
One of the questions that always arises is, “Does it really get recycled or does it end up in a landfill?” When we asked this question, DC waste shared with us their commitment to working with family owned sorting facilities in the region to ensure recycling is occurring. As long as the items being placed in our recycling bins meet the requirements DC Waste provided, the items we are throwing into blue totes and then big totes will end up as a “new” product on a shelf in the future. Teachers and staff have been informed and hopefully students will be back in the recycling habit soon.
The return of recycling – another “Good Thing” happening in Litchfield Schools!