Educational Programs

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s Recycling Section offers a variety of educational programs for teachers and communities/businesses. In addition to the workshops listed below, we can develop a customized presentation for your classroom, school, business, organization or community. Nearly any topic dealing with solid waste management – including waste prevention, recycling, composting, landfills and littering – can be addressed. For more information or to schedule a presentation, contact:

For Educators

The Recycling Section has developed four environmental education workshops that address the growing problem of solid waste in schools and communities. Three of these workshops provide hands-on activities covering a wide range of solid topics including recycling, waste management, source reduction, composting and environmental awareness. The fourth – Do the Rot Thing – offers hands-on activities focused specifically on composting. Participants in all workshops receive lesson plans, teaching aids and other resources to help them incorporate solid waste education into their current lessons. Participants are encouraged to dress casually and be prepared to join in the activities. All workshops are offered free of charge, although education cooperatives (and others) hosting the workshops may add their own fees. The workshops offered are:

Do the Rot Thing explores composting and how composting activities can be used in the classroom. Professionals from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service will provide background information and lead you through hands-on activities you can use in your classroom. Participants receive an understanding of the composting process and resources to help incorporate composting into a variety of subjects. Although the workshop is designed for those working with students in 9-12 grades, many of the activities can be adapted for use with other ages. This workshop is eligible for six (6) hours professional development.

Upcoming Do the Rot Thing Workshops:

The Basics workshop offers activities including the water cycle, worm composting, papermaking and trash detective as well as information about how to set up a recycling program in your school. This is our original workshop, and as such offers information and activities that can be used at any grade level. Hundreds of teachers have completed this workshop and use the information in classes ranging from kindergarten through college level. This workshop is eligible for six (6) hours professional development.

Upcoming Basic Workshops:

Building Blocks for Early Childhood Environmental Education offers activities and lessons focused on what even the youngest person can do to protect the environment. Through songs, stories and hands-on activities, young children can learn to reduce, reuse and recycle. This workshop is geared toward educators of pre-K through about second grade students. Eligible for four (4) hours professional development.

Upcoming Early Childhood Workshops:

Connecting the Links Advanced EE workshop, created for educators teaching grades 6 through 12, provides the tools teachers need to help students understand complex environmental issues while developing critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Participants explore how our choices affect our environment and the options available to us. Eligible for six (6) hours professional development.

Upcoming Connecting the Links Advanced EE Workshops

None

In addition, the Recycling Section offers workshops for three national environmental education curricula. Each participant receives a manual of activities and resources to help him or her teach about the issues covered. Curricula are interdisciplinary allowing them to be blended into lessons in a variety of subjects. These national programs are:

Project Learning Tree – Municipal Solid Waste Module (4 hours)
Designed for use with students in grades 9 through 12, this module explores the complexities of solid waste management and helps students realize the impact their actions have on their community and the environment. Participants will learn by doing hands-on activities which use critical thinking and decision-making skills. With adaptation, the lessons can also be used for grades 7 and 8. Due to the cost of materials, a fee may be charged for this workshop.

For more information about Project Learning Tree, visit the Arkansas Forestry Association’s Web site – http://www.arkforests.org/programs-projectlearningtree.html

Project Underground (6 hours)
Project Underground, a national education program about caves and karstlands, provides educators of kindergarten through high school students an understanding of how the underground environment is an important part of the total environment. The curriculum provides classroom activities relating to caves and related karst regions – their biological, geological, hydrological, and historical diversities and values. Workshop participants take part in hands-on activities, learn more about caves and karst ecology, and receive resources for teaching about karstlands. Due to the cost of materials, a fee may be charged for this workshop.

Waste in Place (6 hours)
Waste in Place, for grades K-6, builds critical-thinking, processing and problem-solving skills through 36 imaginative, hands-on lessons. Lessons can be taught individually or in sequence to introduce students to litter and integrated solid waste management. Developed and field-tested by professional educators and waste experts, the curriculum is being used nationwide by thousands of teachers to influence positive behavior, to foster social responsibility and respect for the environment, and to enrich the learning experience. Due to the cost of materials, a fee may be charged for this workshop.

Additional information is available from Keep America Beautiful at www.kab.org.

For Communities/Businesses

Do you know what’s in your waste and how to manage it? The Recycling Section can help you find out what you are throwing away and explore options for reducing, reusing, recycling, composting or disposing of it. Whether you are a community leader or the leader of a business or institution - such as an office, retail establishment, or charitable organization - we can help you answer your solid waste questions. Schedule one of the following programs or have us develop one to meet your needs.

Waste Reduction is Good Business Workshop (Varies)
We know that recycling and waste prevention are good for the environment, but have you ever considered how they can benefit your bottom line? This workshop will show you how and provide resources to help you get started.

Pay-As-You-Throw Workshop (2 hours)
Learn what pay-as-you-throw or unit pricing is all about and whether it could work for your community. Simply stated, pay-as-you-throw has residential/commercial customers pay for municipal waste services by the amount of waste they create instead of paying a fixed rate. It is working for communities throughout the state. How about yours? Participants receive a Pay-As-You-Throw Toolkit, developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which provides resources for developing and implementing a PAYT program.

Waste Audit or Waste Sort (Varies)
Do you need to get a handle on your waste stream? We can do a waste sort which will determine the composition of your waste stream, focusing on items that are recyclable. This will generate ideas for reducing and recycling in your community. For businesses, we can do a walk-through waste audit to help you understand your waste stream and generate ideas for managing it better.

White Office Paper Workshop (2 hours)
Did you know that the average office worker generates 1.5 pounds of waste paper a day? Most of that is high quality white paper, which is easily recycled. This workshop will teach you how to set up a white paper recycling program in your office.