Home News School Spotlight K-12 Recycle Rally Challenge

K-12 Recycle Rally Challenge

BPMS-spring 2023 champs

The CSWD Recycle Rally empowers students, promotes sustainability, and brings school communities together to take action. During this friendly, four-week competition, schools level up their recycling and composting habits, reduce contamination in recycling and compost bins, and earn points for going above and beyond with waste reduction efforts. Whether you’re just getting started or already rock at recycling—this challenge is for you!

Your Goal

Improve your school’s recycling and composting accuracy by keeping trash out of the blue and green bins and food and recyclables out of the trash! The more “correct” bins your school has, the more points you’ll earn. You can also rack up Extra Points for creative sustainability actions like using only reusable foodware in the cafeteria or having a dedicated team of ‘Compost Captains’ who help students and staff sort properly at lunch.

KEY DATES

Registration: Sept. 15 – Oct. 10, 2025

Rally Period: Oct. 6 – Nov. 7, 2025 (participate any 4 weeks within this window)

Data Submission Deadline: Nov. 12, 2025

Winners Announced: Nov. 14, 2025

Prizes

Changemaker Award: Awarded to the school that makes the most sorting improvement(based on data) over the course of the 4 week challenge.

Grand Prize: Recycle Rally trophy & $500!

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

  1. REGISTER YOUR SCHOOL: Registration opens September 15, 2025. All Chittenden County K–12 schools are welcome! Register Today!
  2. FORM YOUR RECYCLE RALLY TEAM: Choose a student group—Green Team, Environmental Club, or any motivated students—to lead the challenge.
  3. CHOOSE YOUR BINS: You don’t need to check every bin—just pick a representative sample. Try to survey 10 or more bins, including cafeteria compost bin(s) after lunch.
  4. CONDUCT 4 BIN SURVEYS:
    Each week, your team checks selected bins and records whether they are “correct” or “incorrect”:
    • Trash Bins
      • Ignore empty bins
      • “Correct” = No recyclables
      • “Incorrect” = Contains any recyclables
    • Recycling Bins
      • Ignore empty bins
      • “Correct” = No trash or food
      • “Incorrect” = Contains trash or food
    • Compost Bin(s)
      • Ignore empty bins
      • “Correct” = Nothing but food scraps (paper towels are accepted as correct but compostable foodware is NOT)
      • “Incorrect” = Contains trash, recyclables, metal utensils, and/or compostable food ware

        Download this datasheet to record data and track results. It will calculate your scores automatically.
  5. SCORING
    Rally Levels
    • Recycling Rock Star: 90–110 points
    • Recycling Wizard: 70–89 points
    • Recycling Apprentice: Fewer than 70 points

      Your final score is calculated as: % Correct of ALL bins + Extra Points Earned = Total Score

      Example:
      If your school’s surveys show 72% of bins were sorted correctly, and you earned 4 Extra Points from your waste reduction efforts, your total score would be:
      72 + 4 = 76 points = Recycling Wizard!
  6. EARN EXTRA POINTS – Get up to 10 Sustainability points for your school’s ongoing sustainability actions!
    • Policies – Are there school-wide rules that reduce waste?
    • Practices – What actions do students and staff take daily to reduce waste?
    • Promotion – How does your school spread the message about sustainability?

      For more ideas on what qualifies for extra points, read our ACTION IDEAS.
  7. SUBMIT YOUR DATA & SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
    • Complete and submit 4 weekly surveys and sustainability report by Nov. 12, 2025.
    • Submit datasheet with the Recycle Rally Data & Sustainability Report (below) or email your complete data set to: Rhonda Mace – rmace@cswd.net

Recycle Rally Data & Sustainability Report

"*" indicates required fields

Drop files here or
Accepted file types: xlsx, xls, Max. file size: 50 MB, Max. files: 3.
    Please upload the 4-week bin survey Excel datasheet. Incomplete data will NOT be considered.

    If you have problems uploading any files, please send by email to schools@cswd.net.

    Extra Points

    Earn extra points: Provide information about the waste reduction policies & practices you have implemented at your school.
    Policies
    Describe a specific policy that promotes waste reduction in your school. To list additional policies, click on the + button to the right of the field.
    Practices
    Describe a specific practice that promotes waste reduction in your school. To list additional practices, click on the + button to the right of the field.
    Promotion
    Describe a specific communication tactic that promotes waste reduction in your school. To list additional tactics, click on the + button to the right of the field.
    Drop files here or
    Max. file size: 50 MB, Max. files: 5.
      Upload pictures, publications, or articles that showcase your school’s sustainability efforts. Up to 5 files can be accepted.
      Does your school post information about sustainability programs or initiatives on it’s website? Please share the URL so we can take a look and promote your efforts.

      You’ll report:

      • Sustainability efforts and initiatives
      • Datasheet
        • Total Correct/Incorrect Trash Bins
        • Total Correct/Incorrect Recycling Bins
        • Total Correct/Incorrect Cafeteria Compost Bins
        • % Correct for each bin type
        • % Correct Overall

      (Don’t worry, examples and calculators are included in the provided datasheet!)

      RESOURCES

      Share the “What Goes Where Refresher “video with the team for a review of what materials go in which bin. This video can also be used at a school-wide assembly or morning meeting to educate your entire school.

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