Sunset Park student group awarded for zero-waste school

A Sunset Park school is receiving an award for its effort to cut down on waste.
Charles Dewey Middle School has increased recycling at the campus through various projects with students.
The school’s Green Team meets twice a week to stress the importance of not littering.
One of the club’s projects was to create information arrows to help their peers figure out which recyclable items go in which bin.

“There’s an actual plate, and there's an actual fork, and things that they throw away. So they can immediately see it and know where it goes. And that improved recycling a lot,” says science teacher and sustainability coordinator Karen Huurman.

Teachers say the student program has helped the school to receive an award for becoming a zero-waste school.

Many students say they have brought their knowledge home with them.

“I actually told my sister how to recycle, because she would just throw everything in the trash bin. I explained to her how we're supposed to have three different bins,” says sixth-grader Diana Cortez.

The school continues to work to be more ecologically friendly with planned future projects.