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
Level Two of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in June 2010
Level Three of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in April 2011

Waste reduction and recycling

• Highland has maintained a recycling rate of 50 percent.
• The City of Bellevue partnered with the Green Schools Program to assist Bellevue schools with recycling improvements.
• In the 2008-09 school year, Highland Middle School increased its recycling rate from 42 percent to 50 percent. In its cafeteria, the school began to recycle milk cartons, bottles and cans, and switched from individual servings to bulk condiments, reducing garbage in the cafeteria by more than 50 percent.

• Recycling containers are in classrooms, offices and the cafeteria. A sticker listing what can and can’t be recycled is on each recycling container.
• In 2009-10, to save garbage Dumpster space, students began to stack their empty trays at the end of each lunch period.
• The Associated Student Body (ASB) promoted recycling through a “Green Week.” The student group created table toppers for lunch recycling kick-off day, made posters to promote recycling, wore green on kick-off day, and shared recycling facts during morning announcements.
• ASB students monitored recycling containers for the first two weeks to ensure that the correct items were recycled.
• During the 2008-09 school year, paper use was monitored and it was determined that the school uses 4,500 sheets of paper per day. The school reduced paper use by e-mailing staff and parent newsletters instead of printing them and by promoting the following:
• Double sided photocopying and printing.
• E-mail communication.
• Use of smart boards and flash drives.
• A “Paper Free Friday.”
• A plan to reduce paper use for individualized education plans.
• During 2010-11, students promoted recycling and waste reduction during a “Green Week” at school.

Energy conservation

• “Turn lights out” stickers were placed on light switches throughout the school.
• To encourage energy conservation practices, announcements were made at staff meetings and emails were sent to all staff.

Environmental education

• Conservation facts and tips were included in school announcements.
• All seventh grade students designed an ecological cookie package and wrote a persuasive letter to a cookie company urging the company to adopt their new cookie package design based on reduced surface area for the same volume.
• All seventh grade math grade math students determined their ecological footprint on www.myfootprint.org external link and calculated the amount of garbage Dumpster volume saved when students stack their empty trays at the end of a lunch period.

Water conservation

• Students placed “turn water off” stickers by sinks throughout the school.
• Students put up posters throughout the school to promote water conservation.
• The green team used the “water conservation resource tub” from the City of Bellevue.
• The green team submitted morning announcements about water conservation to be read to the entire school.
• PTSA emailed water conservation “Tips at Home” to all families.
• Students pledged to conserve water though a home water reduction contest. Students logged water use at the beginning of the week and tried to reduce their water use during the week.  Highland set a goal for students to try to reduce water by 1,000 gallons per week at home.

For more information about the school’s conservation achievements and participation in the Green Schools Program, contact:

Highland Middle School
425-456-6400