CARTON COUNCIL SCHOOL CARTON RECYCLING GRANT PROGRAM

APPLICATION FOR JAMES MADISON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, STEVENS POINT, WI

PART I General Information

Name: Green & Healthy School (GHS) Team c/o the James Madison* Elementary School’s
Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) *aka Madison Elementary School

Contact: Mr. Karl Bancker, Principal Susan Schuller, Chairperson

James Madison Elementary School GHS Team of Madison School’s PTO
600 Maria Drive
Stevens Point, WI 54481
Phone: 715-345-5419 Phone: 715-346-4150
Email: kbancker@pointschools.net Email: susan.schuller@uwsp.edu

Website address: https://www.pointschools.net/Madison

Population of area: City of Stevens Point: 26,717 (2016)

Total number of schools and total enrollment in the District:

The Stevens Point Area Public School District lies directly in the center of the state of Wisconsin. The
District consists of; 9 Elementary Schools, 2 Junior High Schools, 1 Senior High School, and 4 specialized
schools (Point of Discovery School, Charles Fernandez Center, Boston School Forest and Online Learning
Center), and an exceptionally strong 4K program.

Total enrollment for the district: 7,430 students (2016-17)

Number of schools and their enrollment that will be accepting cartons and impacted by the grant funds:

The Green & Healthy School Team c/o the Madison Elementary School (432 students)’s Parent Teacher
Organization is the sole applicant for this proposal.

Funding requested: This project is requesting $1,770 in grant funds.

Total funding amount of the proposed project (including match support): $2,650

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Brief overview of proposed project and impact.

Madison Elementary School will partner with the nonprofit organization Recycling Connections to develop a
milk and juice carton recycling program at the school. Educational materials will be developed for the school
and the students’ families to teach the students, staff and parents about the value of, and procedures for,
recycling this material. This program will help keep this material out of the waste stream which is intended to
help reduce the costs of garbage collection at the school. This program will also demonstrate the success of a
carton recycling program to the other schools within the Stevens Point Area School District.

PART II Proposal Summary

Please describe your proposed project in detail following this outline.

1. Background and Statement of Need

Description of your recycling program:

As part of the Stevens Point Area School District, Madison Elementary School currently recycles paper (office
paper and corrugated cardboard) and various cans and bottles (steel, glass, plastic, aluminum). Both garbage
and single-stream recycling bins are located in all of the offices, classrooms and cafeteria. Their hauler,
Advanced Disposal, takes recyclables to the single-stream Portage County Material Recovery Facility (MRF)
located in Plover, Wisconsin, just south of Stevens Point. The MRF accepts single-stream recyclables, including
aseptic boxes and milk cartons, from a variety of haulers that operate in the area.

Until recently, Advanced Disposal has required that milk cartons be drained and rinsed in preparation for
recycling. The extra rinsing step was a major hurdle for Madison School to develop a full carton recycling
program. The school began a trial recycling effort to recycle milk cartons generated within classrooms during
milk breaks, mainly because each classroom has a sink for onsite rinsing. These cartons are placed in the blue
single-stream recycling bins located in each classroom. Custodians empty all garbage and recycling bins
throughout the building at the end of each day, including the individual classrooms, and brings the materials
to the designated garbage and single-stream recycling dumpsters outside.

The school has been reluctant to expand the programs to the lunchroom for the following reasons: (1) the
rinsing concern, (2) limited staff and/or parent assistance available to implement a larger-scale program, and
(3) the lack of funds for the educational materials.

Specific goals of this project:

 To work with school administrators, staff, students and/or the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) to
implement carton recycling throughout the school, including the lunchroom and individual classrooms.
 To develop and distribute carton recycling information to each student to share with their families at
home to improve carton recycling within the community.
 Divert 1,080 pounds of cartons per year from the waste stream at the school.
 To assess the most efficient and cost-effective scenario for the school’s dumpster sizes and frequency
of servicing in order to provide a model for other schools within the District.

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2. Program Description

Description of project and communications plan used to help educate about the program and build
awareness.

 The school will contract with Recycling Connections to coordinate the development of the program
and its implementation.
 Recycling Connections will meet with school representatives to organize the school Carton Recycling
team.
o Team will include school administrators and staff (principals, custodians, lunchroom, teachers,
etc.), parent organizations and/or students.
 Onsite training will be provided for teachers, food service, and custodial employees.
 Outreach about the program will include:
o Signage around the school
o Information included in the school newsletter
o Morning announcements
 RC staff and parent volunteers will be onsite at the school during the lunch periods of the first week (4-
5 days) of the program to provide guidance, assistance and to troubleshoot as needed.
 The school will be provided with proper signage to place in the lunch rooms near the waste stations to
help students know what to do with their cartons and other recyclables.
 The school principal will promote the new recycling program in the morning announcements. This will
help students get excited and become more involved in the recycling program.
 RC will provide an education piece on the recycling program to include in their school newsletter and
will design a flier to be printed and sent home in order to inform the students’ families about the new
recycling program. It will also include information about the local opportunities to recycle carton
materials in their community.
 Once this program is successfully implemented, RC will share electronic copies of the program
materials to the principals and PTOs of the other schools in the district so they will be able to duplicate
the efforts more efficiently.

The impact of the project activities.

 The school will develop the most efficient and cost-effective scenario for their garbage and recycling
services, with the hopeful outcome to save money through increased recycling and reduced waste
disposal.
 Materials will be recycled rather than being landfilled.
 Students and their families will be become more environmentally aware of recycling opportunities for
cartons at their school and at home within their community.

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3. Budget
Detailed project budget including a description of how grant funds will be spent.

*All school staff assistance is provided as part of their GRANT FUNDS

regular staff duties and within their regularly scheduled MATCHING FUNDS* TOTAL PROJECT
hours. REQUESTED

2017 ACTIVITIES / RESPONSIBILITIES Hrs Amount Hrs Amount Amount

Meetings at the school with school staff
Aug - and Recycling Connections (RC) to make
3 $135 3 $75 $210
Sept onsite plans and inform them about
program
Aug - Develop initial signage for collection bins
1 $45 $0 $45
Sept and/or within the cafeterias
Begin the program. RC staff will be onsite
during all lunch periods on the start-up day
to provide guidance and assistance.
Sept Parents from the Parent-Teacher 4 $180 20 $145 $325
Organization (PTO) will be onsite during the
lunch periods for the remaining days of the
start-up week.
School staff will record how full the garbage
and recycling dumpsters are before
collection to monitor the volume
Sept generated. This information will help
2017 determine what the school actually needs
- for dumpster sizes and servicing. RC will 1 $45 10 $250 $295
May develop and provide the recording sheets.
2018 Whenever needed and feasible, the school
will make adjustments with the hauler for
the dumpster sizes and/or frequency of
service.
RC will contact the school within 2 weeks
Sept following the start-up date to check in and 1 $45 1 $25 $70
provide additional guidance if needed.
RC will work with school staff and/or the
Oct PTO to develop additional outreach plans 2 $90 2 $50 $140
and assist with curriculum activities
RC will utilize Carton Council outreach
materials for local adaptation to develop
items that will be shared with school
Oct 6 $270 3 $75 $345
families (article for electronic newsletters
and a printed flier). Materials will be
printed and distributed through the school.

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 Green & Healthy Schools (GHS) through the
WI Center for Environmental Education
(WCEE) will use this project to demonstrate
best practice for other schools within the
GHS program. Information about the
project will be shared in a newsletter
Oct -
posting and/or social media post to get the 1 $45 6 $210 $255
Nov word out. They will also create a
bibliography for the school to share some
age-appropriate resources with the
teaching staff and make recommendations
for lessons/activities to integrate into their
curriculum.
RC will compile electronic copies of all
program materials and will share them with
Nov the principals and PTOs of the other schools 1 $45 $0 $45
in the district so they will be able to
duplicate the efforts more efficiently.
2018 RC and school staff will work together to
May- prepare and submit reports to Carton 4 $180 2 $50 $230
June Council
RC's travel time 2 $90 $0 $90

SUB TOTAL $1,170 $880 $2,050

SUPPLIES/MATERIALS

Supplies (buckets, sieves, recycling bins) $200 $0 $200

Signage $150 $0 $150
Printing (information for families) $250 $0 $250
SUB TOTAL $600 $0 $600

GRAND TOTAL $1,770 $880 $2,650

Clear description of matching funds, if any.

Details are provided in the chart above.

4. Timeline
Detailed project timeline

2017 TIMELINE OF GENERAL ACTIVITIES

Meeting(s) will be held at the school with school staff and Recycling Connections (RC) to make
Aug - Sept
onsite plans and inform them about program.

Aug - Sept Develop initial signage for collection bins and/or within the cafeterias.

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 Begin the program. RC staff and parents from the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) will be
Sept onsite during the lunch periods for each day of the start-up week to provide guidance and
assistance.

RC will contact the school within 2 weeks following the start-up date to check in and provide
Sept
additional guidance if needed.

Sept 2017 School staff will record how full each of the garbage and recycling dumpsters are each week,
May 2018 before the hauler empties them, in order evaluate their future needs for sizes and servicing.

RC will work with school staff and/or the PTO to develop additional outreach plans and assist
Oct
with curriculum activities.

RC will utilize Carton Council outreach materials for local adaptation to develop items that will
Oct be shared with school families (article for electronic newsletters and a printed flier).
Materials will be printed and distributed through the school.

Green & Healthy Schools (GHS) through the WI Center for Environmental Education (WCEE)
Oct - Nov
will use this project to demonstrate best practice for other schools within the GHS program.

RC will compile electronic files of all program materials and distribute them to the other
Nov
Stevens Point Area Schools
2018

May- June RC and school staff will work together to prepare and submit reports to Carton Council.

5. Partnerships
List of any program partners:
 Recycling Connections
 Green & Healthy Schools – Wisconsin
 Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education
 Madison Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTO) specifically the Green & Healthy
School Committee

Description of partner roles and responsibilities

Details are provided in the Timeline of Activities information above.

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6. Results and Measurement
Program deliverable and expected results
 Outreach and education will continue within the school’s internal operations and to its students and
families for years to come.
 Students will learn the recycling process so they can embrace an environmentally friendly lifestyle at
school and at home.
 To annually prevent about 1,080 lbs. of this material generated at the school from going into landfills.
 The school will develop an efficient and cost-effective scenario for their garbage and recycling services,
and hopefully save money through increased recycling and reduced waste disposal.

How project can serve as a model

 The school will be used as a model to demonstrate an efficient and effective carton recycling program
to other schools within the Stevens Point Area School District, and how it could impact their garbage
and recycling services and costs.
 Electronic copies of the information and outreach materials used during the project (i.e. newsletter
articles, morning announcements and signage will be shared with the other local schools’ principals
and PTOs.
 The Wisconsin Green & Healthy School (GHS) program will use this as a model for other schools within
the GHS program as reference for developing their recycling programs.

Specific metrics used to measure successful outcomes along the timeline

 The timeline identifies the tasks that will be performed during the course of the project.
 The amount of increased recyclables collected for recycling and the reduced amount of trash collected
for disposal will be measured, as well as their related costs. The intention is to demonstrate the direct
financial impact of recycling this material rather than disposing of it in the trash.

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