School District: Federal Way
School Location: Federal Way
Began participating in the Green Schools Program: September 2010

Level One of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in May 2011

Waste reduction and recycling

• Rainier View’s recycling rate increased from 20 percent to 55 percent, thanks to promotion of classroom recycling and a new lunchroom recycling program for plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and milk and juice cartons.
• Rainier View students heard regular announcements about why it’s important to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
• Students are not only recycling cartons but are drinking more of their milk as a result of education about waste reduction.
• Rainier View teachers made connections between conservation in the lunchroom and student learning objectives in the classroom. For example, in health and fitness classes, students learned about nutrition and how what they eat and drink at lunchtime affects their health and the environment. In math classes, students measured the volume of milk that is wasted at lunchtime, charted results from each lunch period, and then recorded and shared the data with the school.
• The gifted and talented class monitored recycling bins in the lunchroom for school service credits.
• Rainier View is excited to continue its waste reduction and recycling programs next year.

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

Kevin Bauer, teacher
kbauer@fwps.org