As one of the largest school districts in Arizona, Paradise Valley Unified School District (PV Schools) generates nearly 1,500 tons of waste per year. To aid the City of Phoenix’s goal to divert 40 percent of its waste by 2020, put forth by the Reimagine Phoenix initiative, the district is finding new uses for trash through a partnership with the Mayo Clinic of Arizona, the city of Phoenix and the Resource Innovation and Solutions Network (RISN) — a program operated by Arizona State University’s (ASU) Sustainability Solutions Services.
“We saw an opportunity to improve our sustainability profile and incorporate the program into students’ academic studies,” said Dr. James Lee, superintendent of PV Schools. “Working with RISN and Mayo Clinic, our students will have an opportunity to help plan and implement the program.”
“Teachers will gain professional development skills, students will learn about their impact on the environment, and the school district will save money and resources by operating more efficiently through the curriculum and program we will jointly develop,” said Dan O’Neill, program manager for the Sustainability Solutions Services, a program of the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives at ASU.
During the upcoming school year, teachers will design a waste-diversion curriculum in consultation with the expert teams. In the fall, at least one elementary, junior high and high school will conduct waste-diversion projects.
“We’re no longer thinking of waste as ‘trash,’” said John Trujillo, assistant director of the city’s Public Works Department. “Waste is a resource with new industry potential. RISN pulls together the necessary experts that create and implement new products and solutions from waste that will lower Phoenix’s impact on the environment while boosting the economy.”
This project with PV Schools marks the first for RISN, formerly named the Center for Resource Intelligence, which was approved with funding from the Phoenix City Council in January.
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Published May 7, 2014 3pm EDT / 12pm PDT / 8pm BST / 9pm CEST