Youth Education
Looking to teach students about reducing waste, recycling, and supporting their community?
As the official non-profit partner of the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY), we offer a full suite of waste education programs for NYC schools.
Check out our In-School Activities, led by Sanitation Foundation staff, as well as our Educator Resources, including free waste education materials.
In-School Activities
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Waste Audits
Investigate a trash bin at your school and develop a plan to improve recycling on your school grounds.
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C is for Compost
Designed for PreK-2 learners, this multi-part activity explores how organic waste is broken down by bacteria, worms, and other insects, and turned into compost.
Educator Resources
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Follow Your Waste
An interactive, educational game that teaches students how to sort their waste and where it goes after being collected. Available in English, Spanish, and Chinese.
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Curriculum
Free lesson plans designed to help K-12 students learn about waste, NYC Sanitation, and the work we can all do to create a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable future for our city.
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Quizzes
Students can test their waste and recycling knowledge with these quizzes for each waste stream.
Facilitator Guides
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C is for Compost
Designed for PreK-2 learners, this multi-part activity explores how organic waste is broken down into compost.
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Litter Cleanups
Remove litter from your community and determine follow-up actions you can take to reduce nearby pollution.
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Waste Audits
Investigate a trash bin at your school and develop a plan to improve recycling on your school grounds.
Want to learn more about our youth education program?
Educator Newsletter
Sign up for our monthly educator newsletter to receive the latest information about our waste and recycling education programs, including facilitated in-school activities, grant opportunities, waste diversion contests, and so much more!
After we toss our waste in the bin, we don’t often think about where it goes next. But, our choices can have a big impact on the cleanliness and health of our environment. When young New Yorkers learn how to properly dispose of their waste, they help to create a cleaner and more sustainable future.
We invite you to Follow Your Waste on a visual journey from curbside pickup through the surprising inner workings of our city.
Follow Your Waste is an interactive, educational game for kids 5+ that follows the lifecycle of materials in each of New York City’s residential waste streams. Users will learn how to sort their waste and where it goes after being collected. Along the way, users will also learn about the ongoing efforts of NYC Sanitation to keep the City clean, safe, and healthy.
Available in English, Spanish, and Chinese (Mandarin).
Play the Game
“The game was extremely engaging and educational for our students, staff, and families. The extra facts were helpful for the older students. The interactivity of the sort was fun for the younger students. Composting was also a new idea for many of our students and families, so we began to have conversations about the possibility of composting in our school.” - PS 165 Queens, Grades K-5
“I'm a bilingual special education teacher so all my students have learning disabilities in addition to being English Language Learners. I loved that the Follow Your Waste educational game had visual graphics, audio in both English and Spanish, as well as closed captions, so it was accessible for most of my students.” - Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School, Grade 9, South Bronx
“My students were able to learn that waste doesn't just ‘go away’ once it's placed in the trash. Getting to see how properly placing your waste into the right bin could help create something else was so exciting for my kids to learn. Before playing the Follow Your Waste game, the students had no idea what recycling meant. The students were astounded to find out that plastics and cans can be recycled to become new cans or bottles.” - PS 177 The Marlboro School, Kindergarten, Brooklyn
Lesson Plans
We’ve designed a comprehensive waste and recycling curriculum for elementary, middle, and high school students. The curriculum includes interactive activities that are engaging and easy for teachers to add to their existing lesson plans.
Lesson highlights:
Knowing Where Garbage Goes After It’s Thrown Away
The Life Cycle of Products
Recycling in the Classroom
How to Reduce Waste
Waste Equity
Linear Economy vs. Circular Economy
Does Recycling Solve Our Waste Problem
Breaking Down Composting
Beginning to Understand that Nature Recycles
“In the ‘Does Recycling Solve our Waste Problem?’ lesson, my students enjoyed coming up with ideas for reducing and reusing everyday items we use in our daily lives. They completed reuse projects based on their ideas and created some art pieces and some functional pieces to reuse everyday items.” - PS/MS 57 James Weldon Johnson, Grade 8, East Harlem
“My students were able to make connections between trash and their lives living in the South Bronx. Most of my students reside in the Melrose neighborhood of the South Bronx which is notorious for its dirty streets. Students recounted how they see piles of trash on the streets when they leave school and how sad they are that many of their neighbors don't know the benefits of recycling. So my students made it a personal mission of theirs to educate their friends and families about the importance of proper waste management.” - Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School, Grade 9, South Bronx
Looking to improve recycling in your classroom or school?
Check out these helpful resources from the Sanitation Foundation and our partners.
School Recycling Tips
Meet the Workers
The NYC Department of Sanitation employees are on the front lines every day, working tirelessly to keep our city healthy, safe, and clean. They told you the story of your waste - now get to know the people behind the collection truck. From laying in the hammocks on Governor’s Island, to playing in our department’s “Pipes and Drums” band, there is so much more to learn about New York’s Strongest - find out more below!
Credits
Art Director & Illustrator: Haruka Aoki
Web Developer: Corey Tegeler
Experience Designer: Jon Packles
Sound Mixing: Silver Sound Studios
Sound Editing: Keyi Jiang and Joe DiCosola
Curriculum Developers: David Stern and Garima Sharma
Lead Animator: Malavika Srinivasan
Voice-overs: Tom Pollack, Katia Vannoy, Renee Whittick, Tuhina Ghosh, Stephen Harbin, Julian A. Jimarez Howard, Allie Gumas
Advisors: SIMS Recycling Center, Pratt Paper Industries, and ERI Direct
Supported by:
