Stephen Lisauskas serves as vice president of government affairs at WasteZero, a firm that partners with state and local governments to reduce residential trash in counties, cities, and towns. In this role, he heads strategy development for WasteZero partnerships in the Northeast region of the United States. Working from WasteZero’s North Andover, Massachusetts office, Stephen Lisauskas helps clients improve a range of services, including curbside recycling, recycling of food and yard waste, and textiles diversion.

1. MASSDEP RECOGNIZES STUDENTS
FOR PARTICIPATION IN GREEN TEAM
PROGRAM
Stephen Lisauskas

2. INTRODUCTION
 Stephen Lisauskas serves as vice president of government
affairs at WasteZero, a firm that partners with state and local
governments to reduce residential trash in counties, cities, and
towns. In this role, he heads strategy development for WasteZero
partnerships in the Northeast region of the United States.
Working from WasteZero’s North Andover, Massachusetts office,
Stephen Lisauskas helps clients improve a range of services,
including curbside recycling, recycling of food and yard waste,
and textiles diversion.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts employs one or more of
these waste-reduction methods in its own environmental
protection programs. Sponsored by the Executive Office of
Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) of Massachusetts and
the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
(MassDEP), the Green Team program employs these methods
while focusing on environmental education.
Under the program, students in Massachusetts public schools
apply lessons learned in class to real-world activities.

3. MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
 These include, among others, composting organic waste from school
cafeterias, collecting textiles for donation and recycling, and tracking the
amount of trash generated in students’ own homes, minus the amount
removed from the waste stream through recycling.
MassDEP recently announced that students from 62 schools across the
state were recognized for their outstanding participation in Green Team
activities. These students were among nearly 60,000 students in 296 K-
12 schools that participated in the program during 2016-2017 school
year.
The program included Green Team Kits for participating teachers, prizes
for schools and classrooms, and recycling equipment and signage for
schools seeking to initiate or expand their recycling programs.
Teachers received classroom posters, lesson plans, and other resources.
Schools received prizes, including either on-site performances by
environmental educators or gift cards to local garden centers. Purchases
of trees and gardening materials were to be used to enhance school
grounds. Classrooms were entered in drawings for these same prizes.