Stop Waste At School

Recycling Team members assembling the stations

With support from an Altamont Education Advisory Board Grant, teacher Candy Sykes was able to purchase lightweight diversion stations for the rotunda. "It was important to our custodial staff that the stations be easy to move so they can sweep and polish the large area. We were able to find stations that are lightweight and seem durable."

Sykes and her fellow science teachers plan to set up a service program through their classes where students help monitor the bins and educate their peers about the proper placement of compostable materials.

The bins were assembled and installed by the school's Recycling Team on Friday, March 15th.

Recycling is Fun!American High School's Recycling Team is a group of students dedicated to keeping the school clean and green.

The team collects and sorts recyclable materials, redeems bottles and cans for funding used on environmental projects and scholarships and seeks ways to expand and improve its efforts.

The Recycling team volunteers are frequently joined by 9th graders from Ms. Wheaton's Biology class who are able to earn extra credit points for helping the environment.

Washing the Bins

Students meet near the school's science wing every Friday afternoon to process the reclaimed materials, regularly filling large clear bags full of crushed plastic bottles and aluminum cans.

Students also wash and maintain the recycling bins and signs around campus.

Weeding

Recent additions to the garden include a compost bin made from reclaimed wooden pallets, new gravel for garden pathways, and the beginnings of a stone floor for the outdoor gazebo classroom.

Stone FloorVolunteer Ed Sykes led a group of students in weed pulling on a recent Friday afternoon to help prepare for re-mulching and new plantings.  "We're a bit overgrown right now," admited Ed, "but the students are showing a lot of enthusiasm for getting things in shape for the spring."

In addition to spring planting, upcoming projects include expanded sheet mulching using reclaimed cardboard and the installation of a wooden and bamboo fence to create a visual barrier with the parking lot.

Smog Cloud Condenser

The initiative challenges visitors to imagine new technologies that improve the environment.  Visitors sketch out their designs on graph paper and submit them for consideration.  Museum staff then review all submissions, choosing some to be featured in Bill Nye's Climate Lab, the museum's top floor exhibit.

Green Machine Exhibit Sign

The sisters were inspired to make their machine to address global warming challenges, undaunted by the fact that others have not yet solved the problem. Katie points out, "This technology doesn't exist yet, but what would happen is smog goes into the tube and condenses and through some process turns into something good." Cynthia adds, "It collects the smog in the sky and turns it into energy. It condenses the pollution in the smog cloud and recycles it for energy."

Katie and Cynthia's design was chosen by Chabot's staff to be made into a 3D model as inspiration to other visitors. Artist Todd Kundla took up the challenge of fabricating the design. According to Kundla, "The Cloud Condenser captured my attention with its uniquely shaped structures as well as its alluring concept. Something about the 'not knowing' all of the details of how this invention worked was curiously enjoyable. Freed from the science of the machine and concentrating on its aesthetic was liberating."

Tamara Schwarz, Chabot's Senior Manager of Experience Design notes, "inventions happen in the mind before they ever happen in real life.  We hope to inspire creativity and encourage our visitors to dream up new solutions to challenges that haven't yet been met."

Details about Chabot Space & Science Center and the new Green Machine exhibit can be found here: http://www.chabotspace.org/assets/visit-the-center/exhibits/bill-nye/design-challenge-flyer.pdf