Judy Burns, a member of the Tucson Unified School District governing board, remembers collecting aluminum cans at Sewell Elementary School in 1986, long before the city of Tucson had a recycling program. Those cans fetched nickels and dimes that added up to hundreds of dollars for the PTA.
Twenty-five years later, TUSD has come a long way.
Recycling now saves the district about $77,000 each year, according to Nancy Petersen, interim director of environmental services for the city. Because the city charges a lower rate for recycling than trash collection, TUSD saves money by diverting recyclable materials into blue bins.
But there's plenty of room for improvement, Petersen told the TUSD board Tuesday night. While an estimated 50 percent of all waste is recyclable, the school district is recycling about 30 percent of all the waste it produces.
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The first step in raising that number is a waste audit, Petersen said. By digging through the trash, Environmental Services can figure out which recyclables are slipping through the cracks. Then they can develop educational campaigns and messages that encourage people to recycle those materials.
That sort of targeted campaign can also be used to collect materials that aren't typically thought of as recyclable - shoes, for example.
The city recently formed a partnership with the athletics apparel company Nike to recycle sneakers.
One hundred percent of the shoe materials will be recycled and transformed into athletic surfaces like running tracks and basketball courts.
The department will be collecting sneakers in TUSD for two weeks, beseeching students to "give new life to old treads."
And maybe old threads, too. If the sneaker campaign is successful, the city may try a similar campaign with blue jeans someday.
Anissa Tanweer is a University of Arizona student who is an apprentice at the Star. Contact her at starapprentice@azstarnet.com or 573-4117.
