Desert Sky Montessori marks National Recycling Day with grand opening of Recycling Hut

(Update: Adding video)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- In Deschutes County, each of us generate approximately 2,700 pounds of trash per year! As a result, the Knott Landfill is expected to be full by 2029. The Desert Sky Montessori community is doing its part to decrease their waste and increase their recycling. 

This Monday, Desert Sky invites you to celebrate National Recycling Day and the GRAND OPENING of the DSM Recycling Hut by bringing in the below listed items so they can be repurposed or recycled!  You can continue to bring these items in year-round.

From time to time, the items collected will change, depending on community needs and our ability to obtain sponsorship for shipping costs. The hut can be found at our One World Center location @ 63645 Scenic Drive in Bend. The ultimate goal is to collect items normally discarded that can be repurposed or recycled right here in Central Oregon.

• Unwanted crayons (even if broken) . Many will be provided to a local artist, Julie Wilson, for repurposing, and the rest will be occasionally shipped to recyclers.
• Unwanted color pencils (even if short). These will be shipped to a school in Africa if we cannot find someone locally who wishes to accept them.
• Pak Techs (those plastic 6-pack can holders). These will be provided to local breweries who will reuse them, and as a last resort, to The Broomsmen who melt them for sale as a commodity or garden pots.
• Teva’s footwear (all styles except shoes and boots).  These will be shipped to Teva using free shipping labels.  
• Denim (too degraded to be donated). Must be a minimum of90% denim content and can be jeans, jackets, shirts, skirts and more. It can be colored, embellished, and/or printed. The denim can also be in any condition – ripped, stained and even scraps. It will be shipped to BlueJeansGoGreen/Zappos for Good.
• BottleDrop Recyclables ($.10 deposit plastic and glass containers).

The goal of the Recycling Hut is to introduce waste reduction concepts to our children, with an emphasis on “reusing” and “recycling”, and to actually reduce waste.  For now, we will ship some items out of Central Oregon, but the long-term goal is to collect items that will be reused or repurposed locally.

Multiple people came together to create our, predominantly upcycled, Recycling Hut. The Environmental Center provided a Rethink Waste grant which was used to purchase collection bins and compensate our local artist and DSM parent, Francie Towne, though she donated many extra hours to this effort!  You can find Francie’s whimsical work on Instagram @francietownart and at https://www.etsy.com/shop/FrancieTowneArtwork. The paint was donated by Miller Paint.  The structure itself was built by James Nichols and family using lumber donated by the Unity Community of Central Oregon and plywood from the “mistake” pile at Entre Prises Climbing Walls https:://epclimbing.com. Roofing materials were obtained within the community and hardware was obtained from ReStore. James and Francie, we thank you greatly for you and your family’s generous contribution of time!

About Desert Sky Montessori

Desert Sky Montessori School, is a 501c3 public charter school in Bend, Oregon serving over 150 elementary school-aged children in Central Oregon. Desert Sky is the only tuition-free Montessori Elementary School in Central Oregon. Desert Sky’s mission is to provide all children as environment for joyful exploration that fosters self-discovery and a life-long love of learning.