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Success Story: Cherry Crest Elementary School
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Cherry Crest Elementary
(click image to enlarge)
The Green Schools team at Cherry Crest proudly holds up its Green Schools banner after receiving recognition at a school board meeting. |
School District: Bellevue
School Location: Bellevue
Began participating in the Green Schools Program: September 2008
Level one of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in June 2009
Waste Reduction and Recycling
- The school increased its recycling rate from 42 percent to 50 percent, a 16 percent increase.
- Cherry Crest reduced the size of its outdoor garbage container as a result of improved waste reduction and recycling practices, and thus reduced the cost of garbage collection.
- The school created a new Green Team known as “the Greenies.” The team is comprised of staff, students, administration and parent volunteers.
- The City of Bellevue partnered with the Green Schools Program to provide recycling assistance to Bellevue schools.
- During the 2008-09 school year, Cherry Crest began to recycle milk cartons and to place a school-wide emphasis on recycling and reuse practices. Outreach included the following:
- Greenies team members were trained to help in the lunchroom during the two lunches to support custodial staff and to assist students with recycling.
- A new recycling bulletin board with pictures, updates and reminders about the school’s conservation practices.
- An “Earth Day Challenge” in which a video was created of students demonstrating different ways that students and staff could “change one thing” to conserve resources and help the environment. Each class made a pledge poster with their commitments.
- The school collected bottle caps to send to Aveda for the company’s bottle cap recycling program.
- Pesticide spraying was eliminated on school grounds. Students school-wide took part in several “weeding days” to offset the elimination of pesticide spraying at the school.
- Greenies team members made reuse paper bins for each classroom to use for paper that had only been used on one side.
- Staff was educated on and encouraged to use a paper-free method of sending grade reports home to parents each trimester.
For more information about the school’s conservation achievements and participation in the Green Schools Program, contact:
Brett Heinemann, teacher
heinemannb@bsd405.org
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