Learning the recycling habit
April 23, 2008
By Laura Geggel
Sadie Woolf and Tori Hellervik empty a blue recycling container into a larger green recycling can at Snoqualmie Elementary School. Photo by Laura Geggel
Schools win Earth Hero award because of efforts
Both Snoqualmie Elementary School and Chief Kanim Middle School have received Earth Hero at School awards after integrating the recycling of not only paper and bottles but also banana peels and milk cartons into the school routine.
The schools received a congratulatory letter from King County Executive Ron Sims and are invited to attend an award ceremony at Maplewood Greens in Renton April 24.
Chief Kanim Middle School’s Green Team, started by seventh-grade science teacher Erin Spiess, broadcasts its green message via iMovies on the morning announcements and helped implement a recycling program with increased signage.
“Every teacher had a recycling box (before),” said Spiess, “but it usually got thrown out by the janitors.”
Now, classrooms also have GOOSe paper bins - Good On One Side - for assignments and scratch paper. Spiess, who is eight months pregnant, temporarily disbanded the Green Team, but plans to restart it next year.
Snoqualmie Elementary School’s recycling program began when the Terry Husseman sustainable schools award from the Washington state department of ecology awarded the school $1,500 in 2006 and $500 in 2007.
The grants funded two recycling bins per classroom. Recycling bins need to be emptied, and the students have eagerly volunteered to take out the trash.
“I was at a school in Nevada that did not recycle. It’s like night and day,” said third-grade teacher Gretchen Hinds.
Teachers heading the recycling efforts are still unsure what to do with the compost. They applied for a free greenhouse through the International Greenhouse Company. Gjurasic had her students write letters for the contest.
“Hello! We are your friends and we need a greenhouse!!!,” read one letter. “We want to study plants. Then, we could study bug life cycles. Next, the plants outside will die, so we can bring the plants in the greenhouse. Last, we can grow new plants. Bye! Tell us when we get one.”
The school did not win the greenhouse, but it plans to apply again next year. In the meantime, they are trying to find a member of the community to donate a greenhouse to the school.
Snoqualmie Elementary and Chief Kanim students recycle another lunchtime item - milk cartons. Snoqualmie and North Bend residents who recycle with Allied Disposal can also recycle milk containers in their commingled recycling cans.
“There’s a lot of good paper fiber in there,” said Dale Alekel, program manager at King County’s Green Schools program.
During recess, appointed students pick up trash on a weekly basis. The students are provided with gloves, said recycling advocate and third-grade teacher Dana Nohavec.
“They go over every inch of Snoqualmie Elementary School, except for the parking lot,” said Hinds.
Since then, the amount of litter has decreased. The school’s overall garbage has also declined. In the fall, they were only recycling 31 percent of their total trash, but in the spring 60 percent of their waste was recycled.
Students can also recycle plastic bags through a Wal-Mart program. For every 60-gallon bag filled with smaller plastic bags, the school receives $5. Last year, Snoqualmie Elementary School earned $235, allowing it to build a shed to house the bags, among other supplies.
“If people see us doing it, maybe they’ll think, ‘I want to do that too because it helps our environment,’” said fourth-grader Sadie Woolf.
At the behest of their teachers, students are slowly starting to bring their recycling habits home.
Dale Alekel, program manager of King County Green Schools program, commended the elementary school for its use of the nearby wetlands into class curriculum and their ‘waste-free Wednesdays.’ The teachers have the support of the principal, parents, students and custodians and serve as a role model to the rest of the school district, Alekel said.
Gjurasic agreed.
” It’s really exciting. It feels good to be recognized. They’re little kids and they’re doing so much.”
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