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Success Story: Mercer Island High School
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Lunch sorting
Students happily sort their lunch “waste.”
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Green Team
Energetic students and staff work together on the high school’s green team.
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Earth Hero at School Award
Teacher Jamie Cooke receives the King County award in April 2011.
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Lunchroom recycling station
Each station includes a yellow composting container, a bucket for emptying leftover liquids, a blue recycling container and a garbage container.
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Water filling station
Students refilled 3,000 durable water bottles in the first month after station was installed.
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School District: Mercer Island
School Location: Mercer Island
Began participating in the Green Schools Program: June 2010
Level One of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in April 2011
Waste Reduction and Recycling
- A Green Team was started at Mercer Island High School with 90 individuals consisting of staff members, parents, and students. This group led efforts to support the school’s improvement plan to become more sustainable.
- Lessons on environmental sustainability were designed and taught to the whole school through the advisory program.
- The school started a recycling and composting program in its lunchroom.
- All staff and students participated in recycling and composting awareness and sorting education.
- Disposable plastic utensils and all Styrofoam plates, cups and containers were replaced with compostable alternatives.
- Mercer Island High School reached an overall recycling rate of 80 percent.
- The recycling and composting program reduced the number of lunchroom garbage cans from more than 30 to only eight. Overall reduction of waste in the lunch room was 60 percent.
- To reduce single-use plastic bottles, in March 2011 the school retrofitted a water fountain to make it possible to re-fill durable water bottles and track the number of bottles that it fills. In the first four days after it was installed, the fountain filled 1,000 bottles, thus avoiding use of 1,000 single-use plastic bottles. On Earth Day, April 22, the school plans to sell durable water bottles and to use raffle prizes to promote the water filling station.
- A plan is in place to further reduce the use of single-use plastic bottles through sales of durable, reusable water bottles and replacement of plastic water bottles sold in the lunchroom with compostable water bottles.
- The school’s paper reduction plan includes the creation of student notebooks from paper that has been used only on one side.
- A chip bag collection program was started to collect chip bags which are then turned into decorative purses by Terra-Cycle.
Comments
"Since I have been at Mercer Island High School, no initiative has generated as much enthusiasm from staff and students as the current sustainability efforts."
– John Harrison, principal
"I am proud of the accomplishments our school has made towards being more environmentally conscious and sustainable and I am excited to see where we go from here. The King County Green Schools Program provided the support we needed in order to be successful. Thank you!"
– Jamie Cooke, teacher and Green Team adviser
Awards
Jamie Cooke, teacher and Green Team advisor, received a King County Earth Hero at School award in April 2011.
For more information about the school’s conservation achievements and participation in the Green Schools Program, contact:
Jamie Cooke, teacher and Green Team advisor
jamie_cooke@misd.wednet.edu
John Harrison, principal
john_harrison@misd.wednet.edu
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