Elementary school is when students begin to learn the three Rs: reading, writing and arithmetic. However, with the help of Republic Services, Joe Henderson and Robert Semple elementary students are absorbing the other trio of Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle.

Waste collection company Republic Services, which provides service for Benicia, has been working with school districts to help minimize food waste by setting up new recycling programs.

“With Republic Services, our job is to work with the schools and the businesses to help them reduce what’s going into the landfill,” Marie Knutson, a recycling coordinator for Republic Services, said. “There’s also a California law, AB 1826, in regards to food waste. Pretty soon, everyone with four yards or more of trash going per week will have to have composting as well as recycling by law.”

One method Republic Services has utilized has been the implementation of a variety of new recycling stations that indicate where each type of food waste should be disposed and having rotating groups of students assist with the recycling process. Knutson said that instead of having trash cans as in the past, new pods can consist of a bucket for students to pour milk into, a “share table” for students to put any food they do not want to eat, a blue recycling container, a green food waste container and a black landfill container. Knutson said the stations have been helpful in reducing the amount of waste.

“Instead of nine to 12 cans of garbage going each week, we’re down to just three,” she said.

The program has been used in other districts. Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority brought it to schools in the Lamorinda area, and Republic Services began it at Martinez schools.

“Now I’m bringing it over to Benicia, which is the other city I’m responsible for,” Knutson said. “I was lucky that the school board was happy to support it.”

The first school to adopt the program was Robert Semple, which had the support of Principal Christina Moore and custodian Paul Salas and was initiated following Labor Day. Moore said that recycling at Semple was minimal prior to this year.

“Classrooms recycled paper, but nothing formal was established schoolwide for plastics, compost, and/or waste,” she said.

With the adoption of the recycling programs came the initiation of the Green Team, a rotating group of fourth and fifth graders who monitor the recycling stations and encourage other students to know where things should go. After lunch, Salas transfers the trash, recycling and compost waste to the appropriate receptacles and cleans out the cans.

“The rest is up to the students,” Moore said.

Knutson said that having the Green Team was a necessary component, and the programs began with a presentation from Republic Services.

“If you just have cans out there and don’t teach the kids what to do, it’s like giving them keys to a car and they don’t know how to drive it,” she said.

Moore said the program has been working really well, as the number of trash bags at lunchtime alone has decreased from 15 per day to three, and in some cases, only two. The student Green Team members were happy with the success of the program.

“I thought it was fun to be on the Green Team, interacting with the other children and helping them to learn to recycle in the future,” Semple fifth-grader Justin Olivera said.

“Recycling is making an impact,” fifth-grader Izabella Villa said. “We are not using as many trash bags as we used to. I love helping the little kids out and teaching them.”

Even younger students, such as second-grader Haley Utley, are happy with the progress and are gaining important skills from it.

“I think the recycling is better because we don’t have so much trash,” she said. “I learned to put liquid in the little white bucket, food in the compost, wrappers in the blue bucket which is recycling, and other stuff in trash. Recycling is fun.”

Joe Henderson adopted the program on Nov. 28. The Green Team system has received support from Principal Melanie Buck and custodian Martin Corona. As with Semple, Buck said that some classrooms had recycling containers but the school had no official system. Now, she said, proper disposal is becoming almost second nature to students.

“Students eating lunch are picking it up like it’s old hat,” she said. “They are becoming very proficient, even the kindergarteners.”

Buck noted that the program has led to a steady reduction in the amount of waste collected.

“On the first day of implementation, we went from 15-16 bags of trash to three,” she said. “The rest of the bags are recycling and composting.”

Knutson said the next step will be to introduce it to Matthew Turner Elementary School— since it is located on the pickup route in between Henderson and Semple— and then Mary Farmar Elementary School after that. Once the kids move up the grades, Knutson hopes to bring the program to the middle and high schools as well.

Buck said one of the goals of the program is to make students more environmentally conscious.

“Our hope is that students will start having conversations with their families to save the environment on a larger scale,” she said.

Moore said it is teaching students to be conscientious on other levels as well.

“Not only are they having to think about the impact of our footprint, they are thinking about what to do with their waste and how they can actually help Earth by recycling properly,” she said. “Additionally, students are learning to take only what is needed and are encouraged to be thoughtful about the food they buy, choosing items with minimal packaging.”

Knutson said it gives students a positive experience.

“I think they have more campus pride,” she said. “They actually are excited to work in the cafeteria and be part of the Green Team, and they help out the custodians after lunch, everything from using their pickers to help clean up and wipe down tables. I think it’s helping everyone, it’s helping keep things out of the landfill, it’s helping kids be more environmentally aware and it’s helping keep the campus and lunchroom cleaner.”