Winners of DSNY's 2018 Zero Waste Schools Awards announced

Eighteen schools from across New York City are winners of this year’s Zero Waste Schools Award, the City of New York Department of Sanitation announced June 15. Recipients of the award, which was instituted to recognize public schools that have created outstanding programs in recycling, sustainability, gardening or cleanup, will receive up to $1,000 in cash prizes for their schools and will be honored by Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia during an awards ceremony on June 20.

“Young people and public schools are two of our best partners in creating a sustainable New York,” Garcia says. “Students are the future of our city and they have some of the most creative recycling and sustainability ideas. We are proud to recognize their creativity, enthusiasm and commitment to reaching our city’s zero waste goals.”

In partnership with the Department of Education, DSNY has created the "NYC School Guide to Zero Waste" that helps teachers and students set up recycling areas, collect recyclables and coordinate with their peers on environmental projects. The annual Zero Waste Schools Awards encourage public school students to create new, innovative ways to recycle, reduce waste and promote sustainability in their schools.

“I’m proud of the work our students are doing to make our city more sustainable, and I congratulate these 18 schools on their innovative and now award-winning projects,” New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza says. “These hands-on, real-life learning opportunities are improving our communities, and we’re grateful to DSNY for their partnership in reducing waste and promoting sustainability across all NYC public schools.”

The awards encompass five categories: The DSNY Commissioner’s Cup, which recognizes outstanding sustainability efforts; GrowNYC Recycling Champions Program’s Super Recyclers, which honors model school recycling programs; Materials For the Arts (MFTA) Reuse Challenge, which recognizes innovative waste reduction practices; Zero Waste Schools Challenge, which awards participation for the first 100 Zero Waste Schools; and Citizen’s Committee for NYC’s (CCNYC) Team Up to Clean Up, which recognizes the best cleanup and beautification projects.

In each of the Zero Waste Schools contests, schools competed within their elementary, intermediate or high school grade divisions for citywide honors by conceiving and completing hands-on applied learning projects. Citywide winners are awarded $1,000 and runners-up garner $500.

One of this year’s Reuse Challenge winners was the High School of Fashion Industries in Chelsea, where students participated in an upcycle denim fashion shows, created garments out of non-textile reused materials, and enrolled in the refashionNYC program. At PS 90 in Coney Island, winners of the Super Recyclers Award, children trained other students and a neighboring school in proper recycling, set up a classroom vermincompost system and coordinated a sustainability expo at their school during Earth Day.

In addition to the Zero Waste School Awards, DSNY also launched the Green Team Mini Grant program with the Citizens Committee for New York City that provides $500 to school green teams to support projects on sustainability, recycling, gardening and other eco-friendly initiatives.

For more information on the Zero Waste Schools program and the Green Team Mini Grant program, visit www.nyc.gov/zerowasteschools. The complete list of the 2018 Zero Waste Schools Awards winners can be seen at https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/zws/contest/contestWinner.shtml.