Sponsored Post – from Texas Disposal Systems
This year will mark the 20th year our nation celebrates America Recycles Day. On November 15th, over 70,000 people have pledged to recycle a wide range of items including plastic bags, unwanted mail, and mobile devices. Though the national recycling rate has increased in recent years, there’s still work to be done. We can make an even bigger impact by constantly looking for ways to divert materials from the landfill, promoting environmental mindfulness, and perhaps most importantly, educating others about recycling.
Texas Disposal Systems, a local resource management company that helps customers manage and divert waste to beneficial uses, advocates for increased recycling efforts. For 40 years, TDS has helped communities, organizations, and schools manage and divert waste from the landfill. We know the key to reducing waste and sustaining our environment is education, which led us to create the TDS Eco Academy program.
Eco Academy educates K-12 students about trash, recycling, and composting options in their schools. The program was designed to minimize waste in Central Texas schools, and includes campus-wide recycling, plus compostables collection in cafeterias. TDS provides curriculum and educational materials to staff and administrators, as well as students, instructing them how to recycle and divert waste, and why it’s important.
The domino effect of Eco Academy is integral to preserving our planet, as it’s our hope that by instilling good eco habits at a young age, we’re increasing the likelihood that students will develop, practice, and promote environmentally conscious behaviors for life, thus contributing to the preservation of our natural resources and the environment for future generations.
The TDS Eco Academy curriculum is separated into six units where students learn everything from how to design their own backyard compost pile, to ways to reduce consumption and where trash goes, to how recycling conserves natural resources.
The TDS Eco Academy program also includes educational videos, classroom signage,and other collateral, to make learning fun and enable real world application. Each school’s participation is documented and diversion data is made available on the Eco Academy website. With these reports, students and schools can see firsthand how their actions are affecting positive change.
In celebration of America Recycles Day, we encourage everyone to take a page from the Eco Academy playbook and make minor changes in your daily life that can make a significant impact on the future of our planet. Consider the impact that seemingly small actions – such as using compostable utensils, using reusable food containers, or throwing leftovers in a compost bin – can make on our planet. Let’s all make more of an effort to be good stewards of our environment while we still have time to make a difference.
Please note – editorials and sponsored posts are written by guest writers to inform and educate the community on a variety of different viewpoints, as well as to share information about local eco-friendly businesses and organizations. However, they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Austin EcoNetwork.
