Interns introduce 3-Bin system to Oakland Tech Staff!

This past week was a big moment for our interns. Together we have learned a whole lot about the 3-Bin system and how it works, and gathered all the data to create a baseline for Oakland Tech.

FINALLY it was time to share.

Interns presented to over 100 OT faculty and staff this week, announcing the implementation of the 3-Bin System in all Oakland Tech Classrooms starting this December, as well as sharing the hard work they have done to make this project a reality. Faculty was welcomed into the meeting with a 3-Bin system educational brochure, made by Earth Team Interns themselves. Here is a peak!

The interns were allocated a mere 2-3 minutes to share LOADS of information. Pre-presentation there was a lot of nervousness about not being able to finish or touch on everything. Nonetheless, our interns did a fantastic job accommodating the situation and nailed the presentation! Here is what some of our interns had to say..

“We were concise, passionate and knowledgeable” –CoCo

“We went (my peers) straight to the point and got the message through quick and easy” –Suzanne

“It went better than I expected, I expected the teachers to just not pay attention but I saw a lot of them looking at the brochure” –Sierra

“Today went much better than I expected and we came off very passionate” –Nicole

The biggest take away of the day was announcing the role of Earth Team interns as faculty/staff representatives. During the presentation students sent out comment/question sheets as well as blog and more info email sign up sheets. This was the first of many steps interns will take to collaborate with school staff on the implementation of the 3-Bin System.

If you have any questions, concerns, comments, and/or ideas regarding this project please email our team at 3binsystem@earthteam.net . 

We look forward to building our team as we continue to see progress in this meaningful project!

LEADERSHIP I STEWARDSHIP I SERVICE

Interns conduct their first School Wide Waste Audit!

*Student Blog*

Last week we completed our first school wide waste audit! About 7-10 trash bins were audited and all data was recorded using 4 platforms; weight, volume, frequency, and observation.

The school wide waste audit included trash cans from hallways, classrooms, and the cafeteria. We began the audit by laying out tarps and bins to sort the trash into. Some surprising things we found in the trash were body sprays, untouched lunches, a whole Capri Sun, and a condom.

From this activity we were hoping to better understand how much recycling compost and trash our school produces. From this information we can then decide what size cans would be appropriate for our school. We don’t want to have one overflowing bin, but another one that is nearly empty. One of the ways this audit was different from the classroom audit was that it had a lot more lunch items.

We calculated that there was 71% compost, 20% recycling, and only 9% landfill.We hypothesized that people threw their lunch waste away in the hallways or outside, less than in the classrooms. This second audit gave us even more evidence that the three bin system is needed at Oakland Tech, because we have so much compost and recycling that is going into the landfill.

Written by: Interns Sylvie and Maribel

Thanks for reading! 

LEADERSHIP  I  STEWARDSHIP  I  SERVICE