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Success Story: Camelot Elementary School
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Student Green Team members help with the lunchroom recycling program. |
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Students and staff are proud of their conservation efforts and “The Greening of Camelot.” |
School District: Federal Way
School Location: Auburn
Began participating in the Green Schools Program: January 2009
Level One of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in June 2010
Level Two of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in November 2010
Level Three of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in May 2011
Waste Reduction and Recycling
- “Camelot Cares about the Earth” is the theme the school uses to encourage staff and students to protect the environment. From early 2009 to June 2010, the Camelot green team achieved significant changes in how the school thinks about and treats the environment.
- Camelot created a school culture where “Being Green is Cool.” School visitors see green team posters around the school and second to fifth grade student green team members are easy to identify on Friday’s with their green T-shirts.
- Camelot’s recycling rate increased from 20 percent to 44 percent due to promotion of classroom recycling and a new lunchroom recycling program for plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and milk and juice cartons.
- After starting to recycle food scraps in its lunchroom, the garbage Dumpster size was reduced and garbage service costs decreased by 25 percent.
- The green team placed bins for used paper towels near the sink in each classroom, and thus initiated a new project to collect used paper towels for composting collection. Students empty these bins into the lunchroom food scrap containers every day. (Paper towels from restrooms are not collected due to potential bacterial contamination.) Another project that helped reduce lunchroom waste is the recycling of Capri-Sun pouches and chip bags through Terra Cycle, a company that uses the pouches and bags to make new products.
- Every six weeks the green team presents one class with the Green Award and an Earth Flag to hang outside its classroom.
- The green team put together a school-wide Earth Awareness poster contest to help students think about ways they impact the earth. Students volunteered many hours to make classroom and assembly presentations and weekly announcements, to publish a school newspaper that includes conservation tips, and to monitor students at lunchtime and during lunch recess as they set aside recyclable and compostable materials to be recycled.
- Students at Camelot are creating habits that are being shared at home.
- In 2010-11, Camelot Elementary families used the City of Federal Way recycling events to recycle batteries, plastic bags, polystyrene from holiday and birthday packaging.
Energy Conservation
- Federal Way Public Schools made a number of energy improvements at Camelot, including:
- Installing fluorescent light-bulbs.
- Installing occupancy sensors in frequently used rooms.
- Installing an energy-efficient soda machine in the staff lounge.
- Installing new energy-efficient exit signs.
- Setting school-wide standard heating and cooling points.
- Students generated posters that graphed Camelot’s monthly energy use.
- Students placed labels on each computer and on light switches to remind students and teachers to turn them off when they are not needed.
- Teachers added energy conservation facts to the school website.
- Teachers removed personal space heaters, refrigerators, coffee pots and other appliances that they had brought into their classrooms.
- In outreach about energy conservation, Camelot uses the motto "Being Green is Cool."
Water Conservation
- Custodial staff monitored the water meter and fixed broken sprinklers. Students graphed the school’s monthly water consumption.
- Camelot has received $3,000 in grants from the local community to build a community garden.
- Camelot students participated in a school-wide water conservation poster contest sponsored by the Lakehaven Utility District. Eighty students submitted final posters.
- To reduce water consumption, maintenance staff reduced the water pressure in classroom sinks.
- The school-wide student green team expanded to include three representatives from each classroom.
- Students participated in the Salmon in the Classroom program, welcomed guest speakers from King County, and participated in a school field trip to the Issaquah Hatchery.
- Camelot received a $1,000 Terry Husseman School Award in 2011.
Comment
First graders at Camelot consistently say to green team members, “When I grow up I want to be on the green team.”
Awards
- Camelot Elementary School received a King County Earth Hero at School award in April 2009.
For more information about this school’s conservation achievements and participation in the Green Schools Program, contact:
Danielle Smith, teacher
dasmith@fwps.org
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