International Day
International Day and Night are wonderful events at San Mateo Adult School. People celebrate the beauty and power of our diversity. They also prepare and eat a lot of food. There is a lot of "trash" or "garbage" at the end of event.
Keeping It Green
Green is a color. Green also means good for the environment, for the planet, for nature, for people. This year, SMAS "kept it green" for International Day. That means we did things that are good for the environment.
What We Did
Instead of putting everything - food, paper plates, recycling, paper, foil - in the trash, we separated trash, compost, and recycling.
How We Did It
 |
| Teacher Jessica at the Green Station |
Teacher Jessica organized everything. She asked Teacher Cynthia to help. Jessica and Cynthia brought buckets for compost and made signs. Tommy provided big containers for trash and recycling. Everyone came to the Green Station with their dirty plates, cups, napkins, forks and spoons.
On the day of the event, Teacher Cynthia's daughter came to help. Tommy was a huge help. Toshio helped, too.
Three Categories
Compost:
 |
Jessica, Serafina and Cynthia at the Green Station |
* Paper plates dirty with food
* Paper cups dirty from drink
* Napkins
Recycling:
* Plastic - cups, silverware, containers
* Foil wrap that is not dirty
* Foil containers
* Plastic lids
* Plastic lids
* Cardboard boxes
* Paper
Results:
* 3 huge bags of recycling
* Many, many bags of compost (in special green, compostable bags)
* Half of a big school trash can - filled with trash
* The recycling will be made into new things.
* The compost become healthy soil for farming and gardening.
* The trash will go into the landfill.
Trash:
* Styrofoam cups and plates
* Cups that are a mix of paper and plastic - this cannot be recycled and must go in the trash.
* Thin plastic wrap
Results:
* 3 huge bags of recycling
* Many, many bags of compost (in special green, compostable bags)
* Half of a big school trash can - filled with trash
 |
Two huge cardboard boxes with green compostable bags full of compost from International Day |
 |
A big bin of green compostable bags full of compost from International Day |
 |
Recycling ready to be taken to the Recycling Center |
 |
A huge bag of recycling with gloves used at the Green Station |
* The recycling will be made into new things.
* The compost become healthy soil for farming and gardening.
* The trash will go into the landfill.
Why We Did It
Throwing everything in the trash causes many problems. It is expensive in the short-term and the long-term. (It costs money now and it costs money later.)
Short Term Cost
The school must pay money for trash service. Less trash means lower cost.
Long Term Cost
Recycling and composting save money and save our planet. We do not have to drill for more oil to make new plastic. We do not have to mine for new bauxite for new aluminum. We can make "new" plastic from old plastic. We can make "new" cans from old cans. Recycling costs less money and uses less oil and gas and coal. Using oil and gas and coal makes Climate Change worse.
Climate Change is causing many problems. The water in the ocean and the bay is rising because the polar ice caps are melting. This will cause problems for San Mateo and anywhere next to an ocean or a bay. You can learn more from the website, Sea Change San Mateo County. Climate Change also makes storms and hurricanes and droughts and fires bigger and stronger. You can learn more about that from this article from NASA, "What Climate Change Means for Glaciers, Storms, Fires, Clouds and More."
Special Note: We cannot recycle everything at our school. We can recycle paper, and cardboard, and plastic and aluminum water and soda bottles. Teacher Cynthia took the recycling home to San Francisco. In San Francisco, you can recycle many things.
 |
Foil containers washed and stacked by Toshio |
Special Note: Foil containers can be recycled. But! They can also be washed and used again and again. To get aluminum, we must do open pit mining. This causes many problems. It is better to wash something and use it again. Toshio washed many foil containers so we can use them again. Thank you, Toshio!
 |
Open pit bauxite mine Bauxite is for aluminum |
Together we can make a difference for our community, our world, our future.
Do you want to help make International Night green, too?
Talk to Teacher Cynthia or Teacher Jessica.
