Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District

 
Education

Field Trip Opportunities

2007-2008

This year the District again offers two subsidized field trip opportunities for qualifying applicants: Compost Kids and Where Does the Garbage Go?  Descriptions of these popular programs follow here.  Limited dates are available, so don’t wait to apply!

School groups can take advantage of other free field trip opportunities to visit Rumpke's municipal solid waste landfill in Colerain Township or Rumpke Recycling's Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in St. Bernard.

Need a Free Bus?

 

Municipal Solid Waste Travel Reimbursement

 

Are you teaching a unit about landfills, recycling, composting, or other municipal solid waste issues?  If you are spending at least three classroom hours and agree to distribute and discuss Hamilton County’s “Get a Bin” brochure, you could qualify for bus transportation reimbursement to the landfill, recycling center, or other locations with municipal solid waste education programs.  Completed Travel Reimbursement Program applications can be faxed to (513) 946-7779.

 

Compost Kids

Grades:      2-6      

Location:   Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati

Cost:         No student fees and a free bus 

Contact:     Email Cher Mohring or call (513) 946-7737

Students can learn about composting, healthy soil, and environmentally friendly gardening from Master Gardeners while participating in a number of hands-on activities.  Some of the activities include:

  • Examining compost under a magnifying glass.
  • Searching for and identifying bugs.
  • Screening compost.
  • Making potting mix and paper pots.
  • Planting seeds.
  • Participating in a Decomposition Scavenger Hunt and a soil squeeze (looking at different soil types).

The trip takes about 3½ hours, not including transportation time, and is limited to a maximum of 30 students.  Free transportation provided.  Qualifications apply.  Limited dates available.  Approximately 10 trips are offered each spring and fall. Completed Compost Kids applications may be faxed to the District at (513) 946-7779.

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"Where Does All The Garbage Go?"

Rumpke Landfill Tour and Cincinnati Parks Nature Center Recycling Program

 Free to RAP Registered Schools (Find out about the Recycling Assistance Program.)

 

Grades:      3-8      

Location:   Rumpke Landfill and Cincinnati Parks Nature Center

Cost:          No student fees and a free bus 

Contact:    Email Sue Magness or call (513) 946-7736

 

This two-part trip includes a tour of the Rumpke landfill and a demonstration of recycling in nature at a Cincinnati Parks Nature Center.  At Rumpke, students witness up-close views of an active, working landfill.  A Rumpke representative guides students to various operation sites, such as the working face, the methane gas recovery system, the truck wash, and parts of the mining operation.  Students learn about Rumpke’s history, the different vehicles used, and the many ways our environment is protected from this mountain of garbage.  The 45-minute tour at Rumpke Landfill is entirely on a bus.  At Cincinnati Parks LaBoiteaux Woods, Caldwell Nature Center, or Avon Woods, students will participate in an interactive program that includes a hike to observe decomposition and natural cycles, followed by games and activities about recycling, composting, and natural cycles.  Students will make comparisons of the many ways both ecosystems and humans recycle.  The program is designed to present Ohio Content Standards related to renewable and non-renewable resources, and reducing and recycling solid waste. Completed Where Does All the Garbage Go? applications may be faxed to the District at (513) 946-7779.

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Rumpke Recycling Material Recovery Facility

 

Grades:          9-12                            

Location:      St. Bernard

Cost:             No student fees           

Contact:       Anne Gray at (513) 242-4401, ext. 7164

 

Check out the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and see what happens to your recyclables after they are picked up at the curb.  This field trip consists of a presentation and guided tour of Rumpke Recycling’s MRF where students will witness the Single Stream Processing facility.  Students will view the operation of the $15-million state-of-the-art equipment made up of electro-magnets, eddy currents, trommels, bailers, and gravity-fed conveyor belts.  They will see where Rumpke sorts, bails, and ships approximately 80,000 tons of material to market each year.  Because this is essentially an active industrial site, this field trip is available only to high school students (grades 9-12) and requires strict compliance with Rumpke’s safety operations.  Students must wear closed-toe shoes.  Hardhats and safety glasses will be provided by Rumpke. 

 

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Rumpke Sanitary Landfill Tour

 

Grades:             1-12    

Location:          Colerain Township       

Cost:                No student fees           

Contact:            Email Sara Cullin or call her at (513) 741-2617

The tour begins with a brief history of the company and a demonstration of how trucks are weighed.  Rumpke’s tour bus then travels around the landfill while the guide explains exactly what happens after garbage leaves our homes.  Methane gas removal, leachate collection, surface water controls, the working face, and other points of interest are viewed and discussed.  The tour concludes with an explanation of the final landfill cover and capping process and the future uses of the landfill property.  The tour lasts approximately 45 minutes.


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