organics recycling 2 4

8/13/2019 Organics Recycling 2 4

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MPS IS G OING G REEN

P RESENTATION


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C ONTENTS

Why should we recycle organics materials and

how is it done at MPS?

Why should we recycle mixed materials andhow is it done at MPS?

What are the benefits of energy efficiency andhow can we be energy efficient?


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O RGANICS R ECYCLING


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W HAT IS O RGANICS R ECYCLING ?

Recycling means turning trash into somethinguseful.

Organics recycling is the recycling of organicmaterial anything that once was alive intocompost, a special kind of dirt.

Composting happens naturally and requires verylittle energy input.


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W HY DO ORGANICS RECYCLING ?E NVIRONMENTAL B ENEFITS

Organic matter can turn into compost (dirt or fertilizer), which supportsplant growth.

So dont throw it out!

Organic scraps

become compost that is used for planting.


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W HY DO ORGANICS RECYCLING ?E NVIRONMENTAL B ENEFITS

Reduces Waste

Waste and what to do with it is a growingproblem. We send our waste to the HERCincinerator

Each year in Hennepin County we generateenough waste to fill the Metro Dome 11 times!

Thats about seven pounds of trash per person,per day!

Between 11- 25% of our waste is compostable.All of the organics recycling programs arediverting 6-7 tons of trash to organics each month.

o Our compost is being used in construction sites.

Pictures from the HERC incinerator,MPR Photo/Stephanie Hemphill


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W HY DO ORGANICS RECYCLING ?E DUCATIONAL B ENEFITS

Creates an educational opportunity for students.

Students can visit a composting site, to see howworks

Or students can create their own compost pilesas experiments to learn about the scientificprocess or how decomposition works.

Cultivates thoughtful attitudes among students,teachers and staff.

Fits into MN curriculum standards


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W HY DO ORGANICS RECYCLING ?E CONOMIC B ENEFITS

Hauling organic matter is cheaper than haulingtrash because of tax incentives and reduced

processing fees.Organic matter is currently exempt from taxes.

Reduced pick-up frequency reduces our trashhauling fee.


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MPS O RGANICS R ECYCLING

MPS is working hard to make organics recyclingrun smoothly.

MPS negotiated a resource management contractwith our waste hauler that:

o Bundles waste, mixed recycling and organicshauling

o Calculates monthly recycling rates by building

o Builds in a performance incentive for increasingrecycling and decreasing costs

o MPS is one of the first Minnesota school districts toso aggressively manage this expenditure


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Last year, only Burroughs and Lake Harriet-Upper had an organics recycling program.

MPS received a grant from Hennepin Countyduring 2008-09 to pay for organics recycling start-up costs, allowing more schools to participate.

o This year, 21 schools are

participating


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MPS provides an organics coordinator handbook,organics flyers and signs, a volunteer trainingpresentation and the materials necessary to startthe program.

MPS demonstrated how teaching about organicsrecycling fits MN curriculum benchmarks to makelearning about organics relevant.

MPS posted curriculum resources to makelearning about organics easier.

MPS also created Green Reports for each school .These give each buildings carbon footprint, and

can be used to see how buildings match-up.


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Participating schools must commit to theprogram with:

An organics coordinator

A lunchroom orientation

Engaged students, and staff!


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MPS ORGANICS RECYCLING

Students, teaching staff, and building engineersall play important roles in making organicsrecycling successful.

Building engineers need to commit to picking upthe organics recycling and keeping it separatefrom the waste.

Staff can explain how organics recycling works,and give students opportunity to get moreinvolved with the program.

Students make the program work! Students canhelp by monitoring the lunchroom stations,making signs, and thinking of other creative ideaslike contests between lunchrooms


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MPS O RGANICS R ECYCLING PROCEDURES

At the end of each lunch period

Volunteers will supervise students as they move through the

recycling stations.

Students will pour liquids into buckets and put food scraps intoorganics bins.


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Liquids Procedures:

Students will dump all liquids (from milk cartons, juice boxes, etc.)into a bucket with a strainer that will remove any solids .

Engineers will flush liquid down the drains.

This process reduces the weight of garbage and saves moneywhen it is hauled away.


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Food Scraps Procedures:

Students will deposit food scraps and other compostables(napkins, wax paper, milk cartons, etc.) into the green organicsbarrel.

The bag is compostable (and expensive!). Please make sure it is fullbefore disposing of it.

Students will crush milk cartons to save space in the bags.

Lunch Trays Procedures:

The new paper lunch trays should be placed in the compost bin.


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M IXED R ECYCLING


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B EFORE R ECYCLING

Always remember REDUCING comes first.

Recycling is better than throwing

away materials, but the productsstill were made.

Creating anything, takes energyand resources.

Energy and resources should beconserved.

Check out how products weremade---How was this productmined, logged, built?


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W HAT IS M IXED R ECYCLING ?

Recycling means turning trash into somethinguseful.

Mixed recycling is the recycling of many different

types of plastics, metals and paper into newproducts.

Allied Recycling picks up our mixed recyclables, ina single stream, no sort process. Here is a video

showing how it works:http://www.alliedwastetwincities.com/recycle-bank-cycle.php


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W HY DO MIXED RECYCLING ?

E NVIRONMENTAL B ENEFITS

Recycling turns what could be waste into usefulproducts.

At MPS, Allied Waste takes our mixed recyclingand sends it to mills, which turn plastics back intoplastic, paper back into paper, cardboard backinto cardboard and aluminum back into

aluminum!


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W HY DO MIXED RECYCLING ?E NVIRONMENTAL B ENEFITS

Recycling almost always saves energy.

Using recycled aluminum scrap to make newaluminum cans uses 95% less energy than makingaluminum cans from bauxite ore, the rawmaterial used to make aluminum.

Recycled cans are typically back on the self in

two months.

The EPA found that recycling can reduce climatechange.


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Recycling means manufactures do not have tomine virgin materials.

Mining can be very harmful to the environment,and a very dangerous occupation.

Mining for Gold, which is used in manyelectronics is particularly dangerous, andharmful because gold is mainly found inremote locations.

Extracting a single ounce of gold theamount in a typical wedding ring requiresthe removal of more than 250 tons of rockand ore, even in model gold mines

Surface mining


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Reduces Waste

Waste and what to do with it is a growing

problem. Each year in Hennepin County wegenerate enough waste to fill the Metro Dome 11times!

Thats about seven pounds of trash per person,per day!

MPS waste is sent to the HERC incinerator

Pictures from the HERC incinerator,MPR Photo/Stephanie Hemphill


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W HY DO MIXED RECYCLING ?E DUCATIONAL B ENEFITS

Provides an opportunity to learn where productscome from and what happens to them after wefinish with them.

Provides an opportunity to think about our dailyactions. How do our actions affect the earth, andhow does what happens to earth affect us?

MPS also created Green Reports for each school .These give each buildings carbon footprint, and canbe used to see how buildings match-up.

Fits into MN curriculum standards


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MPS M IXED R ECYCLING PROCEDURES

Place blue mixed recycling bins in convenient,noticeable and busy areas.

Hallways

Classrooms

Cafeteria

Make sure recycling bins are not too full

So people arent forced to use the trash insteadof recycling.

Prominently display recycling signs andinformation.


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M IXED R ECYCLING

P ROCEDURES

Dont forget your electronics can also berecycled.

Electronics contain metal, which takestremendous amounts of energy to extract, and isoften done in dangerous and polluting ways.

Recycling electronics is a way to avoid those

problems, because the metal in electronics canbe re-used reducing the need to mine

Cell phones, and computers and often re-fittedand given to people in need.


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Stop and think before you put something in thetrash.

Ask, Can it be recycled?


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At MPS there is no sorting. All mixed recycledmaterials go in blue recycling bins


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY

What is Energy?

Energy is the ability to do work.

Energy heats homes, runs refrigerators, movescars, lights streets and allows you to run.

There are different forms of energy.

Renewable Energy is energy that can be madequickly, like wind energy.

Non-Renewable Energy is energy that takesmillions of years to be made.


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY

MPS gets its electrical energy from Xcel Energy.

Xcel Energy uses a mix of non-renewable (80%)and renewable energy (20%) sources to provideelectricity.

This mix includes nuclear, gas, hydo-power andwind.

Xcels nuclear energy comes in part from thePrairie Island nuclear power plant

Much of Xcels hydro -power comes from plants inCanada.


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY

MPS gets its gas from Center Point.

Most of the Center Points gas (85 -90%) comesthrough pipelines from the Gulf of Mexico. Theremainder of the gas comes from Canada.

Gas runs to schools through pipes.

Center Point maintains a gas meter to gauge gasusage.


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY

Much of the energy MPS is using comes fromfossil fuels.

Using fossil fuels releases stored carbon andother greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

As the amount of greenhouse gases in theatmosphere increases so does the temperatureof the earth.

This process is known as climate change .


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY

Climate change affects how we all will live.

On a warmer earth, icebergs will melt, raising sealevels.

Do you know people who live by the ocean? Willthey have to move if the ocean rises?

Plants and animals have adapted to live in certainclimates. If climate change happens too quickly,they may not survive.

What is your favorite animal? Do you think it willsurvive?


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY E NVIRONMENTAL B ENEFITS

Burning fossil fuels releases toxins like sulfurdioxide, nitrogen dioxide, soot and mercury.

If we use less fuel by being energy efficient, wewill create less pollution.


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Using less energy means that less energy has tobe made.

Making energy from non-renewable sources

involves mining for coal or drilling for oil.Mining and drilling can be very harmful to theenvironment.

Surfacemining


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By using fewer fossil fuels, we can:

Stop or lessen climate change

Stop acid rain and soot production

Hennepin County is committed to reducinggreenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050

We can do this by being more EFFICIENT. Thismeans being smart and making the best choiceswhen using energy.


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY E DUCATIONAL B ENEFITS

Thinking about energy provides an opportunityto learn where products come from and whathappens to them after we finish with them. Italso fits into MN curriculum standards.

Visit the EPAs website for educational recyclingand energy games:

http://www.epa.gov/osw/education/kids/planetp

rotectors/index.htm

Visit the Energy Information Administrations sitefor more games and curriculum:

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=6
http://www.epa.gov/osw/education/kids/planetprotectors/index.htmhttp://www.epa.gov/osw/education/kids/planetprotectors/index.htmhttp://tonto.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=6http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=6http://www.epa.gov/osw/education/kids/planetprotectors/index.htmhttp://www.epa.gov/osw/education/kids/planetprotectors/index.htm


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY E CONOMIC B ENEFITS

Being efficient with energy is good for plants,animals and you. It also saves money!

Energy costs for heating , cooling and lighting arevery expensive. In most schools, energy costsmore than books and supplies. Only payingsalaries costs more.

MPS spends $15 million per year on energy costs.


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY E CONOMIC B ENEFITS

Reducing energy use is a good way to savemoney.

It is possible to save money on energy withoutexperiencing too much hardship because expertsestimate that up to 25% of energy used inschools is wasted.

It is wasted through inefficiencies, like notturning off lights, old heating and coolingsystems, and printing excessively.

We can fix this by being more efficient!


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY

W HAT MPS IS D OING ?

MPS is taking steps to be energy efficient:

Upgraded more than 141 boilers, so they use lessenergy to heat water

Preventive maintenance program to improveheating and cooling efficiency

Retrofit systems using more energy efficienttechnology while aggressively pursuing rebates tooffset the costs of the upgrades


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY

More Steps the district is taking...

Working to improve monitoring systems to findways to reduce energy consumption even more.

Improving bus efficiency by retrofitting 40% ofMPS-owned diesel buses with specialrecirculation valves to significantly reduce

emissions


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY H OW TO BE E NERGY EFFICIENT

Powering the monitor accounts for 50% of theenergy a computer uses.

Turn your computer monitor to off or sleepwhen it is not in use.

Do NOT shut down any Mac Computers orWindows computers in labs. IT services performsupdates on these computers after hours, and hasalready programmed them to automatically go tosleep mode.

Turn off printers, copiers and other officeequipment at the end of every day.

Turn off and unplug electronics and personalappliances.


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY H OW TO BE E NERGY E FFICIENT

Use MPS Green Reports to find out everybuildings carbon footprint.

With this information, you can find out where

energy savings can be made.


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY H OW TO BE E NERGY E FFICIENT

Have fun with Green Reports!

You could: Have a contest to find out

whose more efficient middle-schoolers orthe elementary students?

E E


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E NERGY E FFICIENCY H OW TO B E E NERGY E FFICIENT

Water conservation is a part of energy savingsand efficiency.

Save water by:

Not letting water run

When washing your hands turn the water on towet them and then turn it off while soaping.

Reporting leaks to maintenance staff immediately

Maximizing natural cover in outdoor landscaping


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Energy efficiency improves ourenvironment and saves money.

Little steps and big steps both count.


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Its up to you!

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