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School Recycling Program Newsletter — Fall 2011

Jim Wiesen and Team Yerukim from the Jewish Day School in Bellevue were recognized for invigorating participation in the school recycling program.

Teachers, students, staff and volunteers can get recognition for their terrific work on improving the recycling program, planting a pesticide-free school garden, restoring habitat on or near campus, or any other environmental project that benefits the school and community. Earth Hero at School nominations are due February 24, 2012. Read about last year's winners.

Green Team members at Margaret Mead Elementary in Sammamish are taking on the role of inspectors for the school's recycling program. These third through sixth-grade students will develop a checklist with their teacher, Dawn Pollock, and inspect the recycling bins in every classroom. By offering incentives and prizes, they will encourage students and teachers to sort correctly and keep contaminants out.

The second-grade Green Team at Melvin G. Syre Elementary in Shoreline is working towards Level One as a Green School as it helps to improve the school's recycling program. The team is also starting a school-wide reused pencil campaign called Pencils for Nicaragua. When students find a pencil on the floor or have one that would otherwise be thrown away, they can donate it to this program. In the spring, Dede Ford, who runs the Green Team, will send all the pencils to a school in need.

Ingrid Munck, a parent volunteer at Einstein Elementary in Redmond, is coordinating with fourth-grade Green Team students to plant a native garden on school grounds. Students will be involved in all aspects: planning, designing, and maintaining and the garden. Through participation in the project, students will realize the benefits of native plants to the environment and learn to care for plants year round.

Kent-Meridian High School is working towards Level Three in the Green Schools Program. To help with this effort, the tenth-grade Green Team is creating campaigns to conserve water throughout the school. They will educate and encourage their peers to think about their water use, and teacher Dianne Thompson is working with school staff to eliminate drips and leaky faucets. Along with this, students still monitor the lunchroom to maintain their high rate of recycling and food composting.

Travis Wood's eighth-grade Leadership students at Meeker Middle School in the Kent School District have become recycling leaders to help their school attain Level One Green School status. They created 3D signs to help students sort their lunchroom waste correctly. They also take turns monitoring the disposal stations at each lunch period and answering recycling questions. To keep the momentum going, they plan on holding lunchroom competitions and games, and to create short informational videos about waste reduction and recycling.

Olympic Middle School in Auburn just had its big kick-off for recycling and food composting in the lunchroom. Laine Lenihan had her multi-grade Green Team create step-by-step posters to show students how to sort their garbage correctly. Concerned about all the wasted food, the Green Team is now creating posters to encourage students to only take what they can eat. They are considering developing a “share table” for leftover packaged food.

At Olympic Middle School, posters make recycling and food scrap composting easier.

Marissa Winmill's ELL science students at Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines put together green cleaning kits and then created posters and educated other students and their families on the benefits of using safer alternatives to household hazardous products. Students kept tally of how many times they used their green kits at home. Now students and their families are both greener and safer!

Students in Kerry Clark's fourth-grade class at Seahurst Elementary in Burien created posters to educate the rest of the school on the benefits of using safer substitutes for household hazardous products.

Seahurst students create a poster on HHW safety

Schools with science labs are required to have written chemical hygiene plans under OSHA's Laboratory Safety Standard. Dave Waddell, from the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program, will be presenting a free Chemical Hygiene Workshop on December 8, 2011 from 11:30 AM to 3:30 PM in Redmond. He will cover what's required in a chemical hygiene plan and will provide tools and tips to prepare yours. Clock hours are available. For more information or to RSVP, contact Dave Waddell.

Teachers will learn to integrate sustainability topics in the classroom and the garden at the Garden Educator Workshop provided by Seattle Tilth on December 3, 2011 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. For more information, contact Lisa Taylor at 206-633-0451, ext. 105.

The Local Hazardous Waste Management Program offers classes and will cover the cost for childcare providers wanting to earn a national EcoHealthy Child Care certification. Child care centers and family home programs can qualify as Eco-Healthy by completing a checklist that highlights 30 simple, free or low-cost steps that reduce children's exposure to environmental health hazards. Check the STARS site for upcoming classes (one per quarter in 2012) or for more information, contact Gail Gensler at 206-263-3082.

Students at McKnight Middle School (Renton School District) place stickers on recycling containers provided by the King County Green Schools Program.

Students and staff of Interlake High (Bellevue School District) pose with their Green Schools banner.

Become a King County Green School
During the last school year, 120 schools received assistance and resources to improve conservation practices and involve their school communities in environmental stewardship. The 74,594 students in those 120 schools had opportunities to engage in conservation actions and take leadership roles. Participants decreased garbage volumes and increased recycling rates, and 60 percent of school participants are collecting food scraps and food soiled paper to be collected for composting. Learn more about the Green Schools Program and read success stories about participating schools and districts. Join the 119 schools in 21 cities and 13 school districts that have been recognized as King County Green Schools by filling out a school application form. Schools are assisted on a first come, first served basis. For more information, contact program manager Dale Alekel at 206-296-8457.

Bag Your Bags, Bring 'em Back Campaign
North Hill Elementary and Shorewood Elementary in the Highline School District—two participants in the King County Green Schools Program—competed to collect the most plastic bags in the second annual Bag your Bags, Bring 'em Back recycling campaign. North Hill Elementary School won the competition by collecting the most bags—630 pounds! North Hill students loaded a school bus with the bags collected by both schools. The bus then headed to a local grocery store to drop off the bags for recycling. Both schools received a Trex bench made from recycled plastic.

The campaign's message is that the best way to recycle plastic bags is to bag them up and bring them back to the grocery store. Clean produce bags, dry cleaning bags, bubble wrap and even the plastic packaging wrap from products such as paper towels can also be bagged for recycling. Recycled bags are turned into new products such as decking, playground structures, and new plastic bags. The campaign also reminds the public to use reusable shopping bags.

Toxic-Free Toys and Art Supplies
Children are especially vulnerable to chemical exposure. To reduce their students' risk to exposure, teachers can identify toxic-free toys and art supplies for the classroom by looking for symbols that identify items as safer. Certain international symbols on toys indicate a higher chemical safety standard than U.S. standards. For art supplies, the Art and Creative Materials Institute (ACMI) has determined through testing which products are non-toxic to young children and which ones should only be used by students in grades seven and up.

The Brightwater Environmental Education and Community Center (EECC) is now open for free school programs for students in grades 3-8, including two-to-four-hour field trips on topics such as water, wastewater treatment, water conservation, ecology, energy, and technology. The treatment plant tour program, which currently operates at the South and West treatment plants, also includes Brightwater and will provide tours for students in grades 4-12, as well as community and professional groups. For more details, contact Susan Tallarico or make online reservations.

Grants of $2,000 are available from the Whole Kids Foundation for school garden projects that help children engage in the growing, harvesting, and consuming of fresh fruits and vegetables. Garden projects may be at any stage of development, planning, or operation. Apply by December 31, 2011.

Nominate a Teacher! The 2011 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators recognizes outstanding K-12 teachers who employ innovative approaches to environmental education. Two teachers from each EPA region will be selected to receive the award. Nominations are due December 30.

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