School District: Auburn
School Location: Auburn
Began participating in the Green Schools Program: September 2015

Level One of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in May 2016

Waste reduction and recycling (level one)

• School reduced waste and decreased the sizes of the outdoor garbage and compostable materials containers.
• Announcement reminders were given at the beginning of the school year on expectations and best practices for recycling and waste reduction. New students were taught sorting procedures in a group, and Kindergarten teachers took students to visit the sorting station to learn how it works. Staff member and student volunteers monitored sorting practices throughout the year.
• A Girl Scouts Troop made up of former Hazelwood students raised funds for and donated a new water bottle refilling station to the school.
• Teacher Carol Scofield led a Green Team of 16 third-grader students. After its first meeting, Green Team students shared their waste reduction and recycling knowledge with their classmates.
• The team provided teachers with lessons on "What can be recycled" and how to reduce use of electricity in the classroom.
• For Earth Day, the Green Team created posters about waste reduction which were hung throughout the school.
• The Green Team conducted a waste audit to identify what recyclable and compostable materials were being placed in the garbage containers, and what garbage items were being incorrectly placed in recycling and composting bins.
• Carol Scofield encouraged other teachers to set up simple waste reduction practices such as GOOS (Good-On-One-Side) drawers for paper that has only been used on one side. Many teachers followed this suggestion.
• First and second grade classes used whiteboards instead of paper for math problems.
• Teachers posted assignments and announcements on websites instead of using paper.
• A share table in the cafeteria allowed students to avoid wasting unwanted packaged and unopened food and drink items.
• The kitchen composted leftover food scraps from lunch.
• In 2015-16, the school started to use durable trays and utensils that were not wrapped in plastic.

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

Carol Scofield, teacher
cscofield@auburn.wednet.edu