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

• Twin Lakes Elementary initiated recycling and composting collection in the lunch room and achieved the following results.
• During the first day of lunchtime recycling, the lunchtime recycling rate increased from zero to 45 percent.
• Collected approximately 32 gallons of recyclable material and 20 gallons of compostable material daily.
• Reduced garbage by 80 percent or about 260 gallons per week.
• Reduced the size of the school’s outdoor garbage Dumpster, thus reducing garbage disposal costs by approximately $4,000 per year.
• The school started a “Recycling Revolution,” the theme used to encourage staff and students to rethink, reduce, reuse, and then recycle to protect the environment. The Twin Lakes green team achieved significant changes in how the school thinks about and treats the environment.
• Twin Lakes created a school culture in which the student council encouraged everyone to help on a green team. The green teams help promote conservation actions by creating PowerPoint presentations and displaying posters throughout the school.
• Twin Lakes’ overall recycling rate increased from 27 percent to 36 percent due to promotion of classroom recycling and the new lunchroom recycling program for plastic bottles, aluminum cans, milk and juice cartons, and food scraps.
• The student green team placed bins for used paper towels near the sink in each classroom to collect used paper towels. Students empty these bins into the lunchroom food scrap containers every day.
• Many Twin Lakes’ students are teaching waste reduction and recycling habits at home. “We Achieve Together” is the school’s motto.

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

Paul Reid, teacher
preid@fwps.org