SEE is Educating Children to Become the Environmental Stewards of the Future
What can people do to make a positive difference for the environment? How can people learn to change their wasteful behaviors?
Students at Price Elementary School in Cuyahoga Falls learn about vermicomposting with
the help of Sustainability
for Educators and the Environment program.
Ask the students at Price Elementary School in Cuyahoga Falls and they can give you dozens of answers. Price students have benefited from classroom programs provided by Sustainability for Educators and the Environment (SEE), a non-profit organization that believes that, with the right education, our children can become the environmental stewards of the future.
SEE is the brainchild of Brian Grimm, co-owner of Emerald Environmental, Inc., a northeastern Ohio-based recycling company that specializes in environmental services, waste management and industrial hygiene. “Every day, we make simple choices that impact our environment and these choices matter. That’s where SEE comes in—we empower teachers to impart this knowledge to their students,” he said.
Grimm exemplifies how one person can make a difference in a big way. In his 14 years at Emerald Environmental, he has helped businesses discover environmentally friendly solutions to recovering and recycling waste. In fact, Grimm has recently partnered with Upcyclers, Inc., an organization that holds a process patent for the conditioning and beneficial reuse of alum residuals. This patent allows alum residuals from wastewater treatment plants to be conditioned in such a way that it can be blended with topsoil to create a marketable landscaping material.
“Upcyclers is a way for us to continue to offer our clients innovative ways to be sustainable. It’s rewarding to help companies understand how these creative and resourceful solutions can be beneficial for businesses and the environment.” But, for Grimm, selling green solutions to businesses simply wasn’t enough.
“Companies are more focused on how they can meet government regulations or impact their bottom line,” he said. “Sure, the solutions we develop for them are designed to reduce environmental impact, but many times these concepts don’t extend beyond the workplace.” Grimm wanted to take his years of green knowledge and develop a program that gained grassroots momentum. Thus, the introduction of SEE.
SEE’s motto, “Talk Less. Do More.” exemplifies the organization’s mission to encourage immediate action by making simple lifestyle changes that will benefit the environment. “We all know that we need to start doing something to make a difference but, for some, the hassle of taking action outweighs the benefits.”
SEE overcomes this obstacle by introducing simple zero waste principles to students. Zero waste maximizes recycling, minimizes waste, reduces consumption and ensures that products are made to be reused, repaired or recycled back into nature or the marketplace.
In SEE classrooms, the catch-all trash can is a thing of the past. In its place are recycling and compost bins that force students to think about how much garbage they produce and how it can be reused. Additionally, students can think through systems, trace energy and analyze/interpret how thinking scientifically is helpful in daily life.
Couple this hands-on learning experience with lesson plans that meet state academic content standards and the terms “Reduce, Recycle, Reuse” truly come alive. As Grimm explains, “Our goal is to make an impression with these kids so that they take the concepts into their own homes. The younger they start developing these habits, the more likely they are to continue them over a course of their lifetime.”
As if the potential long-term benefits aren’t enough, SEE also boasts immediate returns—quite literally. The Classroom Compost program is a SEE program that allows students to see how their garbage can be returned to the environment in productive ways. This interactive learning experience brings compost bins into classrooms. Students add their food scraps and, over the course of the year, the “trash” is transformed into valuable fertilizer that can then be used for school gardens.
“For many people, especially children, sustainability is a big, intimidating word with very little meaning. By integrating programs like Classroom Compost, we demonstrate the power of this concept in ways everyone can understand,” Grimm said.
The Classroom Compost Program is one of many that SEE integrates into the curriculum. The organization also holds student rallies to encourage school-wide recycling and, ultimately, work towards the goal of zero waste. Grimm hires interns as educators, teaching students, administrators, support staff and custodial staff how they can become part of the solution. There is indeed zero waste with Grimm, even in terms of the audiences that he serves.
SEE relies on companies such as Emerald Environmental for much of its funding. Along with corporate sponsors, it also receives support from government grants and individual donors. For more information, visit www.TalkLessDoMore.org.
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David Wright coordinates Outreach and Audience Development at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, chairs the education committee for Audubon Ohio, is the immediate past president of the Environmental Education Council of Ohio, and is a trustee of the Earth Day Coaliton.