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Teacher Resources

If you're an educator, you've come to the right place! This is your one-stop shop for all of our waste reduction and recycling educational resources. Take a look at the sections below and let us know if you have any questions.

Skip ahead to any of these sections:

Eligible Schools
Our Partners
Field Trips
Student Activities
Videos
Local Resources
Grants

Eligible Schools

Santa Barbara County is proud to provide waste reduction and recycling support for schools located in all unincorporated areas of the county. To see if your school qualifies for free services, please e-mail us or call (805) 882-3624.

Some local cities, such as the City of Santa Barbara and the City of Lompoc, also provide school recycling programs. Click here for a listing of the City Recycling Contacts.

Our Partners

Science Discovery

The County offers FREE waste reduction education for students through Science Discovery. Science Discovery has been providing excellent hands-on waste reduction and composting education, including in-class lessons and field trips, for over 30 years.

This program serves grades K through 12 countywide. Topics covered include recycling, food waste, vermicomposting, and field trips to your school's local landfill or composting facility, all for free!

For more information or to arrange an in-class lesson or field trip, e-mail Program Manager Stacey Beveridge or call (805) 781-8341.

Field Trips

Depending on your school's location, you'll have the option to take an eye-opening trip to either the Tajiguas Landfill and ReSource Center (South County) or the Santa Maria Landfill (North County) to show your students where their trash ends up. New in 2026 is also the Engel & Gray Composting Facility field trip provided to North County schools, so students can not only learn why it's important to divert their organic waste, but actually see what happens with it first-hand!

Before the tour, consider testing your students' knowledge by taking the Landfill Pre-Quiz, appropriate for grades 3 through 8. (Click here for the Answer Sheet.)

Transfer Station Tour

For more information or to arrange an in-class lesson or field trip, e-mail Science Discovery Program Manager Stacey Beveridge or call (805) 781-8341.

We also offer a virtual tour for those learning and working from home. Check out our video tour below!

Student Activities

Challenge your students' composting knowledge with our Compost Homework Assignment or test their vocabulary with our Recycling Terminology Sheet (best suited to grades 4 through 12).

Videos

For some fun visuals, we've pulled together our favorite YouTube waste reduction videos:

The Story of Stuff (Duration 21:25)

The Story of Bottled Water (Duration 8:05)

The Story of Electronics (Duration 7:47)

The Three R's (Duration: 2:51)

Don't Waste Your Waste (Duration: 5:47)

Too Good To Waste (Duration: 3:32)

How a Landfill Works (Duration: 2:49)

Make the Most of Compost! (Duration: 5:19)

Local Resources

For more information on our programs, check out our Recycling Assistance Flyer or browse through our Go Green and Save pamphlet. You'll also find tons of great info on our School Recycling page.

Want to learn more about food waste prevention and composting ? Download our comprehensive Food Forward: School Edition and Composting ABCs booklets.

Are you interested in updating the recycling containers at your school? Click here to learn how.

Want to know everything about recycling in Santa Barbara County? Take a peek at our Recycling Resource Guide.

You can also view a short video on the services our Resource Recovery & Waste Management Division provides.

Want even more resources? Check out our colleagues in the Bay Area, StopWaste.org, to view different lesson plans and videos, create your own recycling signs, and more.

Grants

Find out how your school can apply for grants to fund environmental education programs, such as recycling, composting, general sustainability, and so much more!

Three Rs Scrabble Pic