The new environmental science class at Russellville High School is a win-win-win-win.
Teacher Elaine Mills got to institute a long-sought, schoolwide recycling program.
Students who signed up get to do hands-on projects and learn skills they can use in everyday life.
The school hopes to save money on trash disposal, similar to the savings it saw last year when all teachers received iPads and they went "paperless."
The fourth win is a community doing its part to reduce harm to the global environment.
Once a week, the environmental science class visits each office and classroom in both elementary and high school buildings. They take the 80-plus plastic boxes - hopefully full of papers, cardboard, plastic bottles and other recyclables - to the Allied Waste bin outside.
The 20 or so students also have to know what to sift out of the boxes, in case non-recyclable materials were mixed in.
Junior Isaac Monteer said he enjoys not being confined to a classroom every day.
Similar single-stream recycling projects have been established at other Mid-Missouri schools, including Fatima, Iberia, Jefferson City, St. Martins and Trinity Lutheran.
Allied Waste conducts a waste-stream analysis to determine if the project would be viable at a location and then provides educational materials for all those who would be involved, before the program begins, said Lillian Kinard, municipal and account manager with Allied Waste Services.
"All-in-one-recycling means you can put all of your recyclable materials into one container so it is easy and cost effective to recycle," Kinard said. "All-in-one recycling has been shown to dramatically increase recycling participation in cities across the country."
That's what Mills is hoping will follow this class project - a communitywide recycling program.
"I was shocked at how many don't recycle in this area," she said.
Recycling projects have come and gone through the years, Mills said. She knew it would take a dedicated group, like her year-long class, to keep it going.
"I knew if I didn't make a class, it wouldn't happen," she said.
The environmental science class follows no book.
Mills, who has been teaching 18 years, uses online videos and other non-traditional sources to teach lessons on topics like wind turbines, solar panels, rainwater harvesting and composting.
Since most of her students live in rural areas, they may not be as familiar with such concepts. Often rural families will burn or bury their trash, she said.
"I like the idea of recycling and helping the environment," said junior Caleb Steenbergen.