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OAK KNOLL WASTE DRAGON January - February 2008
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16 foot dragon sculpture
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The Oak Knoll Waste Dragon has been a community art project, lead by Ms. Cottrell and the PTO’s Green
Team. Local artist, Kathryn Rone built the 16 foot long dragon frame from Aluminum pipe. The students
worked with parent volunteers, Kathryn, and Ms. Cottrell to attach the trash from their lunches to the original
dragon sculpture. Students practiced sorting, as they divided their recyclables, compostables, and garbage.
All trash (non-compostables and non-recyclables) were first washed and then attached to the dragon
sculpture with plastic ties.
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Joseph Gyan, the custodian at Oak Knoll School has reported that there has been a noticeable reduction of
the amount of garbage from the students lunch, since the beginning of this project. Both parents and
students have begun to bring less to school and take home both reusable packaging and food they have
not eaten.
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Elaine Sobouti from Allied Waste, visited Oak Knoll, as the students were working on the dragon. She
examined the trash and helped everyone understand more about recycling. She explained that many things
can be recycled, if they are clean, and free of food. For example; a yogurt cup is recyclable if it is clean. It is
not recyclable if it has a quantity of yogurt still in it.
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the dragon's foil eyes
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As the project continued parents and students examined what was going into the recycling, compost, and
trash cans. Photographer, Justin Winokur, followed this project and documented students and their
construction of the waste dragon. He also photographed the often mixed up waste. At every lunch period
there was often a pile of food that the students did not want to eat and would have thrown into the garbage.
Often, recyclable bottles would get tossed into the compost and compost would be found in the recycling
bins. As the students ran to the playground after lunch, the trash, recycling, and compost cans became one
big pile of garbage. Parent volunteers, the PTO Green Team, and Kathryn encouraged students to learn
about which waste belonged in which containers.
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Students began to use certain colors and types of trash on the dragon to create the face, wings, and body
color. The many plastic bags, instead of going into the trash, became the dragon’s wings. As they saw more
and more of the same kind of trash, students wrote letters to three companies asking them to use
biodegradable or recyclable packaging. Students celebrated Earth Day on April 22 under the dragon, as it
hung over the cafateria window.
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