Recycling is an essential practice, it’s as much about preserving the economy as it is the environment. In order to ensure that sustainable recycling practices are effective in the future, it is important to educate our youth on the importance of the recycling.
Most students learn that you should recycle paper and plastic water bottles — and oftentimes that’s the extent of their recycling education. However, recycling is much bigger than just the curbside blue bin. In order to expand youth education, ISRI and Jason Learning have partner to develop a school curriculum that assist teachers and students to understand both the importance of recycling and the recycling industry.
STEM education among youth fosters ingenuity and creativity within students, and is essential as a means to better understand the recycling world. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics all play critical roles in the recycling process. Students with these educational backgrounds will develop into tomorrow’s workers. The next generation of workers will be responsible for continuing the innovation of the industry, designing products for recycling, and developing processes to handle new items in the recycling stream.
This partnership presents a unique curriculum to not only spread the recycling message to youth, but also to inspire America’s students to think about careers in the scrap and recycling industry, and give them the scientific and technical background that such jobs require. ISRI provides educators with a guide to recycling that includes lesson plans, hands-on activities, and interactive web-based experiences, all focused on the importance of recycling and the scrap industry.
Throughout this experience, students will:
-Acquire a deep, practical understanding of what recycling is and the important role that the scrap industry plays in building an economically and environmentally friendly future.
-Gain insights into life cycle for each commodity.
-Engage in community activities that enhance their understanding of the environmental benefits of recycling.
-Build teamwork, and problem-solving skills through a series of interactive lessons.
