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

Waste reduction and recycling

• Newport High School increased its recycling rate from 42 percent to 59 percent.
• The City of Bellevue partnered with the Green Schools Program to assist Bellevue schools with recycling improvements.
• Students checked all classrooms to make sure each one had a recycling container. All classrooms, offices and the cafeteria have recycling containers with stickers that list what can and can’t be recycled.
• Table toppers were placed on lunch tables to promote recycling.
• The Green Team promoted reuse and recycling by distributing reusable bags and recycled newspaper pencils from the City of Bellevue. A “Newport High School Recycles” banner from the City of Bellevue was displayed, and a city representative talked about recycling during a pep rally.

• The school held a cell phone recycling drive.
• The culinary arts program began to collect food scraps to be composted.
• The school encouraged paper waste reduction through the following methods:
• Use of smart boards in classrooms.
• E-mails instead of print outs.
• Double-sided photocopies and printing.
• The school held a movie event for local middle and high school students and broadcast the movie “Garbage” in conjunction with the City of Bellevue and Allied Waste.
• The environmental club held a “Green Week” near America Recycles Day in November.
• The culinary department started composting food scraps.

Environmental education

• A student and staff Green Team was formed to make Newport High a greener community. The team met quarterly to establish and reach environmental goals.
• Students organized clean up of a garden on the school grounds.
• During Green Week, a conservation tip was announced every day and environmental videos were shown. Students created posters and signs to promote Green Week.
• To promote conservation, the Eco Club set up a booth and distributed recycled content pencils from the City of Bellevue.
• The Eco Club hosted a garden party for students to weed the garden for community service hours.
• The Eco Club went on a field trip to Alchemy Goods and Allied Waste.
• “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss was shown during lunch one day.
• Student Eco Club members wrote conservation tips and messages in chalk on pavement near the school entrances.
• The Advanced Placement Environmental Science class (APES) and the Culinary class developed a joint project to grow vegetables, herbs and fruit that will be used in the culinary classes. The teams collaborated on content and process. The food will be grown and maintained by the APES classes and the student Eco Club.

Energy conservation

• Announcements about energy conservation were made school-wide.
• Staff received an e-mail with tips about reducing energy use.
• Created an energy conservation pledge.
• Students calculated their carbon footprint.
• Stickers were placed on light switches to remind the school community to shut off lights when leaving rooms.
• The Eco Club sent an e-mail to all staff encouraging them not to use photocopy machines on Earth Day, to turn off classroom lights in unoccupied rooms and to turn off computers and projectors when they are not in use.
• To help conserve energy, the school turned off lights between passing periods.

Litter reduction

• The school held a campaign to reduce litter in the cafeteria.
• A video for student body about reducing littering was created for the bi-monthly news program that Newport TV produces.

Water conservation

• The Eco Club submitted morning announcements to the front office and read them to the school to raise awareness about conserving water at school and at home, as well as about recycling.
• The APES classes studied water conservation and water quality issues as part of their curriculum.
• The APES classes tested water for common contaminants.
• Three ninth grade classes participated in Nature Vision’s “Be the Solution” workshop.
• The green team used the water conservation resource tub from the City of Bellevue.

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

Newport High School
425-456-7400