Incentives to get everyone involved

There are many creative ways to highlight your school’s eco-achievements. One winning idea in waste minimization is to paint an object gold and award it to those who’ve made exceptional efforts.

Tips:

  • Golden awards could include golden lunch boxes, garbage cans, or even dustpans.
  • On a weekly or monthly basis, award the golden item to classrooms or students in recognition of their hard work or place it in a prominent area in your school as a reminder.
  • Give Waste-Free Wednesday awards to students who use reusable containers for their lunch.
  • One school created a Scooter the Skunk mascot, who sings, “You’ve been skunked, you’ve been skunked, and your recycling is full of junk,” to encourage proper sorting of waste items. They also awarded classrooms with minimal contamination a weekly Earth Angel Award.