Reading, writing and recycling

Recycling Today, Jan, 2005

The Scattergood Friends School, near West Branch, Iowa, has been awarded the 2004 Best School Recycling Program prize by the Iowa Recycling Association (IRA).

Scattergood is a long-time customer of City Carton Recycling, Iowa City, Iowa, who nominated the school for the award.

Founded by the Society of Friends--also known as Quakers--in 1890, Scattergood's award-winning program encompasses reuse and composting in addition to traditional recycling.

Material for composting is collected while preparing and cleaning up after school meals, and recycled paper is used on a daily basis in classrooms and offices.

The school van makes weekly trips to City Carton's Iowa City plant to drop off recyclables including glass, metals, paper, bottles and cans.

Each of the 80 students and teachers at Scattergood recycles and composts about five pounds of material every week, which adds up to about 10.5 tons of material recycled per year.

In addition to recycling, Scattergood maintains a certified organic farm. The 80-acre farm was established in 1944 and has supplied the school with more than 3,500 pounds of organic produce since then.

Scattergood Friends School Interim Director Jan Luchini accepted the award for the school at IRA's annual conference in Sioux City, Iowa, in September.