2019, Timonium, Maryland, USA

Ridgely’s green club is creating a pathway at our school and decorating trashcans to be placed near the pathway. The people doing this project were Natalie, Molly, Julia, and Lauren. This is very important because it lessens the pollution that affects our watershed. The pathway would be made from stepping stones, so it would prevent pollutants from draining into streams. The trashcans would keep rivers clean.

To improve the watershed, there will be decorated trashcans and colorful stepping stones on the school grounds. One solution will be a work of art that will help improve water quality.

The trashcans will be painted and maintained by the Green Club. The stepping stones will each be multiple small rocks combined into one stepping stone. Ridgely students and staff will also be painting the stepping stones.

This project will not take too long to complete but its effects will be long lasting. The trashcans will stay at our school for many years and will decrease the amount of litter. The stepping stones will be long lasting and will allow for pathways to be made without hurting our environment.

This is a local project that will mostly affect Ridgely Middle School. Our pathway will be near a storm drain so it will prevent runoff into that storm drain. new trashcans. We will also tell students where the trashcans will be located. We will also speak to students on how stepping stones are better for our watershed than sidewalks.

The materials that are needed for the trashcans are paint, paintbrushes, and trashcans. The materials that are needed for the stepping stones are paint, paintbrushes, and stones. Since we need paintbrushes for both the trashcans and stepping stones, we can reuse the paintbrushes. The total cost will be $253.06.

In conclusion Ridgley’s green club is making a stepping stone walkway at our school and painting trashcans to be placed around the walkway. This is highly important, so we can decrease the litter that enters our watershed.

2018-2019, Arlington, Virginia, USA

Sophia, Sarah, Angelique, Mayli, Harry, Kevin, Will, Helonna, Anyie, Ivan, Bryant, Tikarra, Alexis, Siya, Hailey, Billy, and Maggie noticed how many items that should have been recycled after lunch were ending up in the trash, and how much trash spoiled what had been placed in the recycling bin.  They decided that the solution was a better sorting system for trash and recycling in their school cafeteria.

They proposed to change the current way they throw out trash and save recycling in their cafeteria. In their improved system they will have different bins for different lunch items. When all the paper and plastic are recycled, their system will keep them out of the landfills and water below the landfills. They will also be saving custodians time and work.

1. First they will have a separate bin for trash, food, dirty napkins, and plastic packets.
2. Then students will pour out milk or juice into a separate bucket. The way students do it now, the milk and food make the trays and cartons gross so that they cannot be recycled.
3. Then, the straws from the milk cartons will be put in a plastic recycling bin.
4. Plastic containers will also go into the plastic bin.
5. Next students will throw their empty milk cartons into a separate bin with other paper.
6. Once the cardboard trays are empty any food left on the tray can be scraped into the trash bin.
7. Finally, cleaned cardboard trays will be stacked on racks instead of trays being thrown in the trash. Without this, custodians have to take out the trays from the trash with their hands, and put it in another trash bag.

The school principal has approved this change, and students are working out the details with the custodial staff. Having separate trash racks, bins, and buckets will help a lot.  The result will be less plastic in the watershed and more recyclable materials kept clean enough to make recycling easier for everyone.