The PTA Environmental Education Committee sponsors several programs throughout the year to help students and families learn about and take an active part in caring for our environment. Some of these programs are:

Terracycle - NEW FOR THIS YEAR!!!

Terracycle is helping students and teachers earn cash for their school! For every empty Elmer’s glue stick or bottle or every used drink pouch that is sent in, TerraCycle will donate 2 cents to Winston Campus Elementary School. TerraCycle then upcycles the waste packaging material into fun new products which are sold at major retailers, stopping the products from ending up in landfills and polluting the environment, and it is a win for everyone. This will start the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year and there will be bins marked for the students and teachers to dispose of these.
Drink Pouch Brigade
Elmers Glue Crew Brigade

Endangered Animal Adoption

Each January this committee sponsors an endangered animal adoption. Money collected in the classrooms for this project is used to adopt animals from a variety of zoos and wildlife organizations. Last year we collected enough to adopt four animals at Brookfield Zoo.

Inkjet Cartridge Recycling

Used printer inkjet cartridges are collected all year in the office. Proceeds from this program are used to support the WCE PTA.

Paperback Book Exchange

1st Paperback Book Exchange will be Wed. Oct 7th from 11:45-12:45 in the lunch room,on the stage.

Bring in your used paperbacks and exchange them for new ones! We have many books to choose from!! A great way to "be green" and help the environment!!! Recycle Reuse!!

The first Wednesday of each month is Paperback Book Exchange Day. Students in grades 1 to 6 can bring up to 3 paperback books that they have read and exchange each one for a paperback book that is new to them. The books are collected that morning and students are given a coupon for each book they bring that can be exchanged for a book they choose during their lunch hour.

Please no hard cover books, puzzle books, or magazines. Also please try to bring books that are for your own age group. The dates for the paperback book exchange are posted on the calendar and will run from October through May.

Jan Minogue

School Supply

At the end of the school year, students are encouraged to recycle usable school supplies rather than throw them out. They are recycled, added to Winston’s reserve of school supplies for those Winston families in need or given to an appropriate charitable organization.

Gym Shoe Collections

Worn out gym shoes are collected throughout the year. The worn-out gym shoes are recycled through the Nike Re-use a Shoe Program. Worn out shoes are recycled into running tracks and basketball and tennis courts to playgrounds and even synthetic turf fields, sports surfaces of all types. Visit http://www.nikereuseashoe.com to see how this amazing recycle program works.

Waste-free Wednesdays

The Waste-Free Wednesday program is off to a great start, every Wednesday is Waste-free Lunch Day. Students are encouraged to bring a lunch from home in reusable containers in order to learn how to generate less waste.  The first graders have received their reusable Winston Campus lunch bags that are partially funded by a grant from the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC). As an incentive the kids can earn smencils (a pencil made from recycled newspaper and scented in various scents) for every 5 times they participate. To qualify the kids can have only one piece of garbage, this does not include milk cartons or biodegradable waste such as fruit or vegetable scraps. Thank you to Mrs. Jayaraman and the sixth graders for running this program.

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