Danna Lotz - Second Graders, Cereal Boxes, and Landfill Tours

[00:00:10] Dominique: Hello. Welcome to Green Champions.

[00:00:12] Adam: Thanks for joining us in a conversation with real people sharing sustainability success stories. 

[00:00:17] Dominique: This podcast is a platform for green champions to share their stories and plant new ideas. I'm Dominique.

[00:00:23] Adam: And I'm Adam.

[00:00:24] Dominique: Today we are really excited. We're joined by Danna Lotz. Danna is the school programs administrator at the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, which you're gonna hear us refer to often as SWACO.

S-W-A-C-O. Danna has taught elementary school for 18 years. So today we're talking a bit more about Danna's background in terms of getting into education and her joining as a teacher, and then obviously finding her way to this unique role. And so today we're talking about sustainability as it relates to school programming. So thanks for joining us today, Danna.

[00:00:58] Danna: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

[00:00:59] Dominique: I'm so glad you're here. Do you wanna start off by telling us a bit about how you found yourself liking education?

[00:01:05] Danna: Yeah, I'm one of those people, honestly, that wasn't like, oh, I'm, I'm gonna be a teacher from like second grade on, you know? I always played school and stuff. But it really wasn't until my senior year of high school until I realized, like I was tutoring some kindergartners or first graders that year.

And some of my teachers started saying like, "You're, you're good at this. Would you consider this?" Because I'm like, I don't really know. So yeah, I jumped in head first. I actually was gonna be a tcomm major at first, and I changed my major, like the first or second week of school to education. Telecommunications? I wanted to be like, you know, behind the scenes TV or radio or, yeah. We had a TV and radio program at my school and I loved it and so that was my first. But then I was like, oh, I don't know. I'm from a small town. I couldn't see myself traveling at that point in life. Now I'm like, oh, that would've been fun. But, anyway, so I jumped head first into teaching. Never looked back. I loved elementary education. 

[00:01:52] Adam: How did you end up with the second and third graders? 

[00:01:55] Danna: I think the degrees were pre-K to third, and so I kind of had to really make that decision there. Then I went to Ohio University in Athens. And so they'd get us into the classrooms super early on and I figured out, yeah, I really love elementary. And so, my first job was second grade and I taught second for about 11 years, and then I finished out in third grade.

And yeah, I just love those ages. They're independent enough to, you know, I don't have to button their coats and jackets and shoes, but they still are like needy too, and like curious and friendly and kind and loved me no matter what.

[00:02:25] Dominique: I was gonna say, that's like a more welcoming age profile.

[00:02:28] Danna: Yeah.

[00:02:29] Dominique: What would you say to someone who's considering education for themselves?

[00:02:32] Danna: I think if you are passionate about it and really take a look at what it entails, get into the classrooms, volunteer or, you know, visit if you know a teacher already. I think being prepared of what the true expectations are. And if you think that's for you and you're passionate about helping children of all, you know, kinds, abilities and backgrounds, then I highly encourage it.

It's very fulfilling. I mean, it's very time consuming and can be stressful, but if your heart's in it and you just wanna help children no matter what, then I say go for it. It's a great job.

[00:03:02] Adam: At what point did your sustainability and your passion for the environment start to intersect with your teaching?

[00:03:08] Danna: Yeah, I was thinking about this, just when I kind of switched and people started asking me a little bit more and I'm like, yeah, when did it start? And you know, as a young age, I'm from a really small town, like a thousand people, and my dad and I would collect bottles. You know, back then he drank Mountain Dew out of the big, big tall glass bottles and we'd collect those in the barn. And then, we'd collect cans all the time and we'd walk them down to, I don't even remember where, somewhere and they would, you know, exchange 'em for money. And so that was just really exciting. And then as I got older, my parents, my mom and stepdad started a business. I would work in the office and things like that. And I'm like, we produce a lot of wasted paper. And so I started hoarding the paper and we didn't have recycling. Again, it's a small town, it's just not offered, but there was a community drop off. And so I started hoarding all the paper, cardboard in my car. And so my parents were like, "Okay, we can do this."

And so, yeah, I guess so those were like two moments thinking back like, "Oh wow, I guess I have been into this." And then becoming a teacher, just seeing the waste at school and the students and just really developing that creativity and you don't have a lot of money. And I didn't wanna spend my own money half the time.

So, I'd have to start being creative. And one thing that I would do is instead of buying like boxes for their books, we would use cereal boxes. And the kids would love bringing in their favorite empty cereal box. We'd cut it at an angle and they'd keep their books in it for the year. And I'd tape the bottoms. And they just loved it 'cause it was theirs, right? It was their favorite cereal. It was their box from home. And of course we'd bring in extras for kids who may not eat cereal. But, I started to just do stuff like that and markers, right? I hated seeing them go to, to waste. So we would collect markers sometimes. We would always check 'em at the end of the year. I'm like, I'm not buying new if I don't have to. And so it just really, I don't know, it was just kind of ingrained in me not to be wasteful in that sense. 

[00:04:46] Dominique: I'm curious like how did the students react to that as a, using this as an example?

[00:04:50] Danna: They would get really excited because then it, it was like they took care of it more 'cause it was their book box. Like mine, they'd be knocked over all the time. They'd get cracks 'cause I'd, you know, at times I'd buy like secondhand ones and they're like the plastic.

But when it was their cereal box and it didn't matter if it got ruined, they'd just bring another one in. So they thought that was cool. You know, a good teacher in my mind is you, you decorate the room with kid artwork, kid stuff, make it feel like it's their environment. A lot of times as teachers, we wanna put everything up ourselves and make it look beautiful, and it's like, "No, I really wanted the kids to feel like this is our home, this is our room." So, yeah.

[00:05:24] Dominique: Okay. And then you transitioned from teaching to now being at SWACO. We're gonna get more into what you've done with program building in the next episode. But tell us a little bit about what that role is now and why it is so important that you are an educator at heart.

[00:05:39] Danna: I actually live right by the landfill and I've lived there for about 15 years. My husband has lived there his entire life, and his parents and grandparents and brother all live by the landfill. So it has been in their, literally in our front yard.

So it's been a topic of discussion and care and making sure like, SWACO is being a good steward of the resources and the land and everything. And then my grandfather in-law, my husband's grandfather, he was on the board there. So when I first met my husband, he would talk about it and he immediately was like, "Oh my gosh, do you know about our free landfill tour program? And do you know we reimburse for buses?"

And I was one of those teachers where I'm like, get us outta the classroom, right? I wanted these kids to see and do, and a lot of schools unfortunately only get one field trip no matter what district. That kind of seems to be the norm because of finances and different things. So that I'm like, okay, this is a free field trips so I can go on two, right? One paid for by the school. And so everybody was like, how are you getting two field trips that like, became this thing? But, so I was a little hesitant. I'm like, we're going to the landfill. How exciting can this be? But from that first time I went, I was like, "Oh my gosh."

Like they drive you all the way up in it. The kids are glued to the windows. You get to see things that you're like, why is this going to the trash? Right? That looks perfectly good. Or all the cardboard and the kids would just start to ask all those questions and be so intrigued. And so I went on that landfill tour for about, you know, 13 years probably.

And so then I would share it with all my teacher friends across the district and other schools like this is a great resource because the presentation also gave you lots of good information and the kids get a touch and feel like part of the fabric that they put down and things like that.

So it really brought it to life. Well, when we'd come back, it's common sense the kids would be like, well, what are we doing about this? And so we would brainstorm, you know? What can we do? And their imagination would just run wild. Well, we need to recycle of course. And well, we can use less of this.

We can save the paper and do artwork and crafts out of it, or I can take it home for my craft paper at home. And, so I'd really just let the kids kind of create these things. And then it stemmed to, yes, it was in our standard, so we had certain things that we had to teach, and conservation of resources was a big part of that.

And so at the holidays, instead of buying presents or you know, I'd buy stuff to bring in to make stuff sometimes. I'd be like, "No, let's get lots of crafts and upcycle things." And so again, they would be creative and come up with all the ways. And one of my worst but best memories is my principal came in the day we were, like my room was destroyed, just stuff everywhere 'cause kids are digging and creating and decorating cans for pencil holders and she's a pretty neat freak. I was like, "Trust me. I will explain later." There is a purpose to this destruction. 

[00:08:13] Adam: You're like, "Hey, where are we creating the landfill, right in our classroom."

[00:08:16] Danna: Yeah, exactly. There's gonna be a purpose outta this. They're gonna come up with something new. And the kids got so excited again. Their creation, their ideas, and they got to take 'em home and then gift 'em to their parents or families or whatever it might be. But yeah, so it just kind of stemmed from there.

And then each year I would get more teachers, like my whole team. I was like the whole third grade needs to go, or the second grade, whatever grade I was teaching. I would get all the other teachers on our team to tag along and then they would start. And so hopefully, and then people start talking about it. And it became a really good field trip that kids remember because they then go, what are we doing at home? Why aren't we recycling at home?

[00:08:47] Dominique: I mean, of all field trips that definitely affects everyone. I mean, I'm also biased as like a passionate person about this space, but it really is like one of the few things everybody engages with every single day.

[00:09:00] Adam: I've never been on a landfill tour. Can you paint a picture of what it actually looks like?

[00:09:04] Danna: Yeah. Well, the first stop usually is our education center and it's just a modular building right now. But it's beautiful inside the, she's got hands on activities and different things on the wall, very interactive, and she has a presentation to kind of get you up to speed on how much comes to the landfill and why it's important to recycle.

She also talks about like the layers and how we protect the earth around it so we're not getting leachate out into the water and stuff like that. And then you literally load back into a bus or a van depending on your group size, and she takes you all the way up into it. But on the way, she kind of gives you all the stats and facts about the methane gas collection system and how they put the certain layers in and different types of equipment and their jobs and rolls. And you go right up to where they're dumping loads and loads of trash. And then you get to see perfectly good furniture or lots of cardboard or car parts or perfectly good buckets that could have been reused and things like that. So it's definitely eye-opening and puts perspective into people's decisions.

Like maybe I could do something different with my things to keep it outta here.

[00:09:59] Dominique: What do you wish people understood as somebody who grew up near the landfill and like you're familiar with what happens there and how it affects the communities nearby? Like what do you wish people who've not interacted with their landfill, which every listener has some relationship with some landfill. But what, what would you want them to know?

[00:10:20] Danna: I think first and foremost, I would want them to know that we get 5,000 tons of waste a day. And that's like a thousand elephants worth of trash, and 76% of that stuff could have been diverted.

And so I want them to know that your actions and decisions matter. You know, just stop and think. You know, we do talk about the three Rs, I feel like in elementary or school, and you hear 'em, but what does it actually mean. And so I would try to always instill in my students like recycling is the last of the Rs, like we should be reducing and reusing first.

And I would want everybody to start doing that because if you just start making small decisions each day, that can keep stuff outta the landfill. You can teach your kids that from a young age and it'll just become habits that are just a part of who we are in our daily life, second nature, and that's what we want.

[00:11:02] Dominique: I just looked it up 'cause I wanted to know how many there are, but that's some stats about one landfill. And all landfills are not created equal. This could be a whole deep dive, but there's over 40 landfills just in Ohio. And so when you think about, I just think for sense of scale, in terms of like how much waste we create as a state, as a country, as a community, that's a lot.

And why it's so important that this organization that takes care of our landfill is also invested in educating our schools, which brings us back to the work that you do. And okay, so you knew SWACO because you were familiar with landfill tours and you had brought your personal students out to engage with their resources. When did you consider jumping over to the SWACO side? 

[00:11:42] Danna: A bug had been planted in my mind just like the last few years. I had my principal's license. I got my master's degree in teacher leadership, and I had thought about, you know, making a transition at some point to a leadership position and something like that. But, you know, as a teacher you, you do have lots of skills and sometimes I felt like I was being limited.

I was making a huge impact with students, but when we'd go on field trips, I would love to see how different community entities worked. And so I just started researching like, what other jobs could I do outside the classroom where I'd still make an impact? I'd still work with students, maybe not directly, but indirectly.

And it just so happened that I got an email. Kim Chapman, our education specialist, just sent out probably a mass email to everybody that's gone on tours before and saying, Hey, we have this opening. And it just happened to come across at the right time. And I talked about it with my husband. I was like, could this really, is this my jump, like something different? And yeah, it just, I went for it. And I crossed my fingers and did the best I could. And it was like a full circle moment, like just experiencing it from my grandfather in-law's, you know, just perspective all those years. And I just never dreamed I would actually have a job there.

And I went for it and I haven't looked back. I love it.

[00:12:49] Dominique: I love that. It's also like very serendipitous and I love the idea that we talk to a variety of professionals about how they landed in their role. And it's, the answers are across the board, but I feel like it is always a little bit of magical timing and taking the opportunity or asking the right question.

And so I'm sure that email hit a lot of inboxes so the fact that you were already kind of like poised and excited about something new, it's just very, very cool.

[00:13:13] Danna: And as a teacher, it's just a fun side note. You have to turn in your resignation by July 10th, I found out on July 9th that I got the job. So I was like,

[00:13:21] Dominique: Did they know that, you think? 

[00:13:22] Danna: Well, I had kind of forewarned them in emails a little bit 'cause I'm hadn't heard back. And I'm like, I'm not trying to be pushy. I know you have. Like other people but if, if this is for me, I've gotta know because I'm like, you know, I didn't wanna be disrespectful to my district 'cause I'd worked there for so long. So it just, they called me and I was like, yes, yes, yes, yes. 

[00:13:38] Adam: Oh, cool. So looking at where you are now, how did the classroom experience help inform the work that you're doing today?

[00:13:43] Danna: Yeah, so our school personally, I worked at JC Sommer Elementary in Grove City, and one of another teacher actually went through the School Recycling Champion program with Kristy Higginbotham at the time she was the one overseeing it. And so Emily did the program and went at a staff meeting. She presented all the bins and the signage and just told us all about it.

I think it was only the first, maybe the first year that the School Recycling Champion program had been in place. And so unfortunately, Emily got this program started and then she moved schools and then eventually did something else. And so when she stepped out, I was like, well, somebody else has to make sure all this is happening. And so I really stepped in to just make sure the bins were in place and all of that. So leading into that, there's some challenges at public schools or any school right there. It's complicated. There's lots of things going on. And so when my friend Emily stepped out and I was kind of overseeing things, I started emailing to problem solve some issues. And the district really worked with me and Kristy kind of back and forth to just figure some things out. And so actually going into this role, I was like, hmm, if I dealt with these challenges, other schools are probably dealing with similar challenges and, you know, with COVID hitting and then just job insecurity and having a hard time keeping employees at schools sometimes. So that really helped me in this role because I am working with custodians now. I am working with district leaders, so I've switched to the other side, and I understand what teachers go through. I understand how busy they are and how time consuming things can be, and just adding something, what we think is simple. Recycling can be simple. It's a lot to implement and to get started.

So that has really helped me just understanding kind of the background and all the things that the teachers face on a day-to-day basis.

[00:15:22] Dominique: even just understanding the dynamics of how all those different individuals work together, how often they meet with one another, how often they don't, and like how differently their daily schedules are. That point of view you have on how a school runs and gets everything done has been so valuable. And I've gotten to witness, like the decision making. You're so readily able to make because you know what is a stress and what's not. What excites you most about working with those different stakeholders at a school, and especially young people when it comes to sustainability? Like what's been fun about that?

[00:15:55] Danna: Well, the most fun is when students are involved and so, and every school's different and that's my big moment of encouragement is try to get, even if it's just a couple students, because then it grows, right?

Students start to see, well, they're doing that and they're getting outta class for a few minutes. You know, like, who doesn't want a little break from class to take the recycling out? But the schools who have green teams or environmental clubs or just a group of students that wanna hang out at the end of the day to pull the classroom recycling, those are the most fun because the kids get excited and the kids start to say, hey we're contaminating, you know, this bin, or we need to hang some signs up in the hallway to advocate for some sort of change. Or like I said, a contamination tends to be a big one. Or they'll make posters and explain this is why it's important you guys, we need, and they start to keep track of how many bins they empty and how much they're collecting to kind of showcase this is how much we are saving from the landfill.

So it just gets really fun and exciting when I get to work with the kids in that capacity. But the schools who don't have students that can be involved, the teachers do a fantastic job and I can always, you know, make little plugs, like even if you can't have students like stay after school or anything, there's ways to get 'em involved during the school day.

[00:16:58] Adam: Have you seen a common trajectory of how schools get involved in running like green teams and projects like that? Is there a place where they usually start and then grow from over time?

[00:17:06] Danna: It's honestly, it's been different. I think a lot of, at least in the high schools, it's environmental clubs. Then we have a lot of groups that do the Teen Eco Summit through the Columbus Zoo that start, but it just takes one student to have an idea or to notice or to say, why aren't we recycling as much?

Or why aren't we recycling in this space? So that's really it. It just takes one person's idea to kind of take off and start pushing and nudging the state, other people, adults, usually.

[00:17:32] Dominique: Yeah, I was gonna say, so do you feel like it's student-led usually, or like, I mean, I think I can also imagine scenarios where it's teacher-led. And you know, do you notice a difference between those two?

[00:17:43] Danna: If it's student-led, it's best that an adult, still applies just because I can have easier communication and not that they don't have a voice, but student schedules are just not as flexible as teachers. Not that teachers have flexibility either.

[00:17:55] Dominique: I guess I'm thinking about it and it feels like there's a pro of student-led would have more energy behind it and would probably be able to gather more students more easily 'cause they listen to each other. But then students also graduate and leave. So, I dunno, I'm just curious if you have a, if you've noticed any trends there on like how effective programming is when you have more buy-in from students or teachers? 

[00:18:16] Danna: I think when students are involved for sure, but they have to find that champion teacher to support them So as long as there some collaboration between the students and staff that's gonna make it the most successful. But definitely student ideas and their creativity and their nudging make a huge impact. And the most teachers want to help their students do those things. So

[00:18:35] Dominique: Students bring the energy and teachers bring the continuity. Okay. 

 That's a fun way to think about it. And I, I just feel like that's so special. Like schools are such a unique space for that. And I know we feel similar about this, Danna, where like the power of schools also, is that if you get a light bulb into those students' brains in terms of what we think of as valuable or like what our systems could look like, they go on to have so much of a career ahead of them and they have that ingrained. And so, it's just so cool that you get to touch so many different individuals with the work that you do. 

[00:19:06] Danna: It is, and it, every day is different and every school is different. So the challenges never stop because what worked for one school doesn't work for the next school. And so I like challenges and I like problem solving, so it really another reason why I like this role.

[00:19:19] Dominique: What advice would you give your younger self?

[00:19:22] Danna: Oh gosh. How much younger, like, 

[00:19:23] Adam: When you were a teacher, like what would you have needed to hear in order to say, Hey, here's the steps that I could do in order to build an environmental program at my school? 

[00:19:30] Danna: I think if you feel called and if your students have ideas, go for 'em. Because they need to see those adults listening to them and taking action. And they're gonna hit roadblocks like we all do in all of our careers and sometimes teachers especially feel confined to. You have a lot of limitations, just, just sometimes, and it's nobody's fault.

It's just the way things are built and you have to go through 10 people to get something done. But don't let that stop you because just the process and the problem solving, the kids are gonna learn from that itself. And that's such a real world experience to say, yeah, you don't just ask for something and it happens overnight.

It takes time. You have to email, you have to call, you have to be persistent. You have to, when you maybe hit a roadblock or get told no, think of a different way to go about that. So I definitely think it's important for students and teachers to just be mindful of if you have something on your mind and heart and you wanna make an impact, like start with the students and their ideas and just don't give up.

[00:20:23] Dominique: That was a beautiful way to close our episode today. Thank you for joining us and telling us a bit about your background. I know next time we'll get, we'll get into the programming that you've been able to watch grow. We'll talk about the impact it's had. We will dive a bit more into like a what your day-to-day work looks like.

But thank you so much for sharing how you became an educator, what it looked like to be doing that for 18 years and how you've brought that expertise into this much needed sustainability focused role. How can people connect with you and support the work that you're doing at SWACO?

[00:20:54] Danna: So they can always email me at schools at swaco.org. They can find me on LinkedIn, Danna Lotz, and they could also check out our resources on our website at swaco.org/schools.

[00:21:05] Dominique: Are there any other programs with SWACO, with additional resources that you'd like to plug or initiatives that maybe, stepping out of the school programming is also potentially a resource for listeners?

[00:21:15] Danna: Well, the first one I wanna say is we don't just focus on recycling. We do food waste problem solving, share tables, and we can help your school get started with composting or vermicomposting. So we have resources on our website for that as well. And I'm happy to connect you with resources or try to help you find grants and funding for any needs that you might have for that.

But also SWACO has initiative plan right now called GreenPrint. And during this we're trying to improve the programs that we already have. So trying to divert, you know, textiles, mattresses, maybe have more convenience centers.

We would love to have a choose to reuse community center and things like that. So if you're interested in what SWACO is up to as a whole, please check out our resources on GreenPrint as well on our website.

[00:21:57] Adam: We'll put all that in the show notes Thanks so much for joining us today.

[00:22:01] Danna: You're welcome. This was fun. Thank you.

[00:22:03] Adam: As always, our guests have found a unique way to champion sustainability. We are here to put real names and stories behind the idea that no matter your background, career or interests, you really can contribute in the fight against climate change.

[00:22:14] Dominique: You can find our episodes, donate or reach us at thegreenchampions.com. Give us a review and follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Our music is by Zayn Dweik. Thanks listening to Green Champions. We'll dig into the second half of Danna's success story in our next episode.