This article is part of Concentrate's Voices of Youth series, which features stories written by Washtenaw County youth with guidance from Concentrate staff mentors, as well as adult-written stories spotlighting local youth perspective. In this installment, student writer Anna Birchok investigates Ann Arbor Public Schools students' efforts to improve recycling in their schools.

Students enrolled in Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) have likely heard that the district doesn't recycle. While this may hold true to a certain extent, there might be more behind the issue than they realize.

Coert Ambrosino is an environmental education teacher at AAPS who, along with one other colleague, teaches over 10,000 students every school year about the environment.

"This is a really common thing that people will say," Ambrosino says. "It's my seventh year on staff, and there are definitely problems with the recycling program, but I don't know where this idea of, 'It just doesn't get recycled, period,' [comes from]."

After pickup day, the city of Ann Arbor's recycling ends up in a materials recovery facility (MRF) where recyclables are sorted and processed. Due to safety concerns, any bags included will not be opened, even if they contain recyclable items. Instead, these bags are sent directly to the trash. 

In order for schools to properly recycle items, someone would have to take the individual recycling bins from classrooms and empty them into the large bins outside of the school. Oftentimes, custodians and others think they are helping by dumping recyclables into bags, but once they reach the MRF, the closed bag will be thrown out.

However, this isn't to say that AAPS just throws everything away. Items such as corrugated cardboard boxes and bulk recycling from kitchens or maintenance rooms often get processed correctly. 

"I think the challenges that we have tend to be with classroom recycling," Ambrosino says. "That's what students and staff have a chance to see and it's what they have a chance to impact." 

Ambrosino isn't the only one who has noticed this. Students from Skyline High School's Environmental Sustainability Club (ESC) have been raising awareness about flaws with recycling in their school.

Doug CoombeSkyline High School's Environmental Sustainability Club.
"I think there are a lot of people who don't know what to recycle. I notice some things you just can't recycle because of the food residue or water liquid," says ESC member Kylie Dybdahl. "That is definitely an issue and does kind of justify why it's a lot of extra work to deal with."

"The power to make a change"

While it can be easy to look to school janitors or management for answers, it's not always the best solution.

"[Custodians] are not being paid enough, there are not enough of them, and it's not clear enough for them to do the work," says ESC member Kai Jellings. 

Doug CoombeKai Jellings.
AAPS hires contractors at a district level to staff custodial needs. With recent funding cuts throughout the school system, it seems unlikely that the district will be able to put additional resources toward sorting recyclables any time soon. Aware of the issue, students in the ESC have put time into finding solutions.

Every day after school, members of the club walk into open classrooms to collect and sort recycling. Along with being part of a solution, it can foster a sense of ownership within students.

"It really helps younger people who feel like they don't have any power to actually stand up and be like, 'You know what? I'm gonna do this too,'" Dybdahl says. "I think that is also a very important part of what we're doing. It's making one feel like, 'I have the power to make a change.'"

Doug CoombeKylie Dybdahl.
This approach to recycling isn't uncommon, as schools across the country have been using it to teach students responsibility and leadership skills, along with giving them a chance to feel like a part of the bigger issue.

"I taught fifth grade in Colorado for six years, and it was the fifth graders' responsibility on a rotating basis," Ambrosino says. "It was a school-wide system supervised by adults, but it was students that were helping to do the work and feel some ownership around it."

While the approach can provide benefits for students' growth and help to solve environmental issues, many difficulties can arise when establishing a student-centered recycling program. One of the most important factors is making sure the correct items are being recycled. This comes through the students' education.

AAPS has multiple ways of educating students on recycling. Second graders across the district take a field trip to the Freeman Environmental Education Center, where they learn about what happens to their trash once it leaves their street bin, along with getting an introduction to zero-waste strategies and the circular economy.

Seventh grade science classes have the opportunity to take a bus tour of Ann Arbor's MRF on Platt Road, where they see firsthand what happens to trash, recycling, and compost in the city. Students also dive into the "do"s and "don't"s of recycling.

These trips are great examples of how to educate students about recycling practices, but with only two environmental education teachers serving the district, more support would also go a long way.

"Recycling matters because it is an extension of protection of the earth," Jellings says. "If everybody does the smallest little thing, great progress can be made."

Concentrate staffer Eric Gallippo served as Anna's mentor on this story.

All photos by Doug Coombe.