Tennessee Solid Waste Education Project

Welcome to the TNSWEP Web Site!

Are you interested in teaching your students about garbage but don’t know where to begin or how to make it fun and interesting? Would you like to learn about activities on "trash" that you can lead in your classroom? TN SWEP can help! Incorporating solid waste issues into the existing curriculum can be challenging for any busy teacher; but the TN SWEP program was created to help K-12 teachers in Tennessee do just that.

The Tennessee Solid Waste Education Project (TNSWEP) is a program designed to fulfill the requirements of the Tennessee Solid Waste Management Act. Specifically, TNSWEP addresses Section 41 of the Act requiring solid waste education for K-12 students. Since 1995, a variety of TN SWEP services have been provided in 79 of Tennessee's 95 counties. TNSWEP offers FREE in-service workshops, curriculum workshops, classroom presentations, and assistance in planning environmental education events. To schedule, contact the TNSWEP consultant nearest you!

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TNSWEP consultants in West, Middle, and East Tennessee provide free assistance to teachers in a number of ways. A TN SWEP consultant can come to your school and give a teacher workshop on integrated solid waste management or provide a curriculum workshop that will help you incorporate hands-on activities on solid waste into your current curriculum. Or a consultant can come to your classroom to give a presentation on garbage and the 3 Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle).

TN SWEP also provides Solid Waste Activity Guides for grades K-3, 4-6, 7-8, and high school. Activity Guides are available from the consultant in your area and are also found on this web site, where you can select activities that you want to use in your classroom and print only those lessons, thereby reducing waste.

TN SWEP is sponsored by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and is co-directed by Catherine Wilt and Dr. Sheila Webster of the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

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TNSWEP Services:

In-service Workshops for K-12 teachers and pre-service teachers provide opportunities to participate in hands-on activities that work in the classroom. TNSWEP lesson plans and activities are correlated with Tennessee Learning Expectations.

Curriculum workshops are designed for educators in the non-formal sector. Workshops include highly interactive sessions and the latest information about solid waste management.

Classroom presentations are for K-12 students in public or private schools.

Assistance in planning environmental education events, such as an Earth Day Celebration or an EnvironMental Fair, is available from TNSWEP consultants.