Home Resource expands zero-waste education for Missoula fifth-graders

Kate, education and outreach coordinator at Home Resource, outlined the organization’s Zero Waste Ambassadors Program (ZWAP), a standards‑aligned education program for fifth graders that combines a classroom visit, a visioning activity and a two‑hour field trip to Home Resource.

ZWAP’s classroom visit is roughly one hour and introduces students to the materials economy and the circular economy, Kate said. The lesson frames choices at home and school — reduce, reuse, rot (compost) and recycle — and links those choices to local consequences such as wildfire smoke and drought. “ZWAP itself is a standards aligned program for fifth grade students,” Kate said.

The program runs in three parts. First, the classroom presentation introduces systems thinking about how products are made, moved and disposed. Second, students complete a visioning activity — examples include drawing self‑portraits as zero‑waste ambassadors, writing letters to companies (one student wrote a letter to Culligan about single‑use water jugs) or redesigning items destined for the landfill. Third, students visit Home Resource for a roughly two‑hour field trip that includes a board game simulation of the…