Photo Friday | Celebrating Recycling Successes

We can tend to be a little pessimistic in Acadiana about recycling services, especially with the change last year that we could no longer recycle glass. But we do have a lot to cheer about in terms of recycling progress!

Two dedicated Lafayette ladies/mothers took the initiative during the 2015/2016 school year to evaluate recycling programs and make the case for Lafayette Parish public schools to adopt recycling programs. I wrote about this campaign on the blog last summer, and contacted the school board members to express my support for teaching children about the importance of recycling. (As I always say, I learned at a young age and look where I am now.)




The recycling program was approved by the school board, and went into effect for the 2016/2017 school year. They worked with Waste Management to provide the recycling services, and this week, the school board released the first year results, which are amazing!

During the 2016-2017 school year, the Lafayette Parish School System, in partnership with Waste Management, started a recycling initiative at 20 school and office sites across the parish. Over the course of the year, LPSS recycled 38.28 tons of waste, averaging almost 20% of the total commercial recycling volume in Lafayette. Because the participating schools were able to dramatically reduce the waste going into their dumpsters, Waste Management recommends downsizing the number of dumpsters at these sites, which will allow the school system to realize $25,000 in savings. LPSS staff plan to propose that the School Board launch the recycling program at all campuses in the upcoming school year. The program is expected to pay for itself and even position the district to realize additional savings.





It's great to see the recycling program in schools prove successful in the first year, and to see just how much paper could be diverted from the landfill and recycled to make more paper that can be used in schools again.

On that note, happy weekend everyone! Hope you all have a fulfilling Father's Day weekend!

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