Monitoring Captain

By:

Lunch Recycling Monitors and Adult Captain

Montgomery County Public Schools, SERT Department has
informed us that we have reduced our lunch waste by 35%! Although it has sometimes
been difficult for students and adults to remember the recycling rules at
lunchtime, we have improved markedly. Our plan to reduce mistakes was to have
student trashcan monitors posted daily at each receptacle as the children
dispose of their waste. An adult volunteer, our Captain of Recycling, educates
the children by: showing visuals of what items are recycled and the correct bin
for them; signaling their starting time as well as recording attendance of the
monitors; and monitoring each trashcan for mistakes.

We also developed an incentive program. The tables with the
most mistake-free days each month win lollipops. Our Captain of Recycling is a
young adult with Down Syndrome. He attended Bethesda Elementary and recently graduated
from Montgomery County Public Schools. He volunteers at Bethesda Elementary 5
days a week. We find that this position has proven to be very helpful. The
number of recycling mistakes has decreased markedly. Given the huge benefits of
his involvement, both for us and for him, we hope to continue this highly
successful collaboration.