Home News School Spotlight 2025 Recycle Rally Results: Schools Raise the Bar on Waste Reduction

2025 Recycle Rally Results: Schools Raise the Bar on Waste Reduction

Champlain Elementary School receives $500 and the Grand Champ Trophy from for the CSWD 2025 Recycle Rally.

Congratulations to the 2025 Recycle Rally Winners

The results are in for the 6th semi-annual Recycle Rally Challenge and CSWD is impressed!

Seven schools across Chittenden County stepped up to compete for the title of Recycle Rock Stars. Throughout the five-week challenge, teams surveyed trash, recycling, and compost bins across their campuses, earning points for correctly sorted materials and demonstrating their commitment to reducing contamination and boosting sustainability practices.
In addition to bin-sorting accuracy, schools could earn bonus points in three areas—policies, practices, and promotion—by taking meaningful sustainability actions either before or during the challenge.

Grand Champs: Champlain Elementary School

Malik and Brown’s 5th graders took charge of CSWD’s 2025 Recycle Rally winning the Grand Champs trophy and $500.

Champlain Elementary School (CES) claimed this year’s Grand Champion Trophy and the $500 prize with an impressive 92% correct-sorting rate and a total of 102 points. Long known as a sustainability leader in Burlington’s South End, this is CES’s first time earning the top honor. Beyond outstanding sorting skills and amazing leadership, CES strengthened school-wide sustainability in all 3 categories.

POLICY

Implementing a policy to collect and recycle plastic snack-film sleeves, preventing hundreds of bags from going to landfill every day.

PRACTICE

Deploying student leaders to support younger students with snack-time sorting, lending a hand and being strong models for protecting the planet.

PROMOTION

Featuring weekly recycling reminders and procedures presented by fifth graders. We all need friendly reminders of what goes where, even CSWD staff need reminding now and again.

Changemakers: Williston Central School

The Changemaker Award goes to Williston Central School (WCS), which achieved an impressive 204% improvement in sorting accuracy from the first to the final bin survey. Leading the charge was one dedicated 7th-grade student, Anna Claro, who took it upon themself to educate classmates and staff about proper sorting and the importance of the Recycle Rally; proof that one motivated individual truly can make a big difference. CSWD is incredibly proud of WCS’s students and staff for their ongoing leadership and commitment to sustainability.

PRACTICE

  • Uses a Share Table/fridge/cooler for uneaten/unopened foods that other students can eat if hungry or used in afterschool programs and redistributed at the end of each week so everyone has access to food over the weekend.
  • Annual locker/cubby cleanout to reuse school supplies; waste not, want not.

PROMOTION

  • Established a Sustainability Room for farm-to-school and sustainability-based education and activities.
  • Anna taught younger students about what goes where and why the Rally was important.

More Sustainability Initiatives from Participating Schools

POLICIES

  • Essex Middle School established a Green Team
  • Underhill Central School
    • Uses reusable foodware for snacks and lunch
    • Delivers snacks in reusable bins, no bags used

PROMOTION

  • Hiawatha Elementary and Underhill Centrals Schools schedule annual visits with Recycle Rhonda to promote better sorting skills for all students and staff.
  • Underhill Central School served as a drop-off site for spent batteries during the 2025 Battery Bonanza, helping the community recycle used batteries (and they won).
  • The Schoolhouse tours CSWD’s facilities during their climate change unit for a real-world experience.

PRACTICES

  • The Schoolhouse collect scrap paper for reuse
  • Hiawatha School
    • Mrs. Dall turned her kindergarten classroom compost bucket into a class pet: Greenie; students ‘feed’ her only food scraps or paper towels to wipe her face. Recycle Rhonda has since introduced hundreds of kids to Greenie’s cousin Scrappy.
  • South Burlington High School’s Green Team used social media to educate students and staff about what goes where, emphasizing FOOD ONLY in the compost.
  • Underhill Central School
    • Uses reusable cups for water instead of bottled water.
    • Kitchen staff reuse food container for storage and transporting food
    • Collect paper towels in bathrooms for composting
    • Share classroom supplies amongst staff to reduce cost and consumption.
  • Essex Middle School saw an increased use of the compost bin during lunches and will concentrate on what goes into the bins next.

Champlain Elementary School provides a mesh bag for plastic bag collection to each classroom.
Hundreds of plastic bags are kept out of the landfill each day at CES.
Recycle Rhonda presented Williston Central School’s Changemaker Award to Anna C.
CES 5th grade Sustainability Leaders giving a What Goes Where lesson to another class.
Hiawatha’s Mrs. Dall uses reusable worksheets for her kindergarteners.
Mrs. Dall’s K compost bucket: Greenie
Essex Westford School District has implemented share coolers in every cafeteria in their District.
In-class share bin for snacks.
Hiawatha’s reuse Cardboard Challenge.
Mrs. Cole & Mrs. Dall’s kindergarteners get a class pet every year…yep, they are composting worms!
Anna C., Recycle Rhonda, and Equinox House showcasing the Changemaker Award at WCS.
Williston Central School repurposed an unused classroom for the new Sustainability Room.

Congratulations to Champlain Elementary School and Williston Central School and a huge thank-you to every school that took part.

Your dedication to the 3+ R’s makes you all champions in CSWD’s playbook.

Contact Info

Share: