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OAK KNOLL WASTE DRAGON January - February 2008 PRESS
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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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