School District: Vashon Island
School Location: Vashon
Began participating in the Green Schools Program: November 2013

Level One of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in May 2014
Level Two of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in May 2016

Waste reduction and recycling (level one)

• The school achieved a recycling rate of 49 percent.
• Recyclable materials and garbage collection stations were set up in each classroom and office.
• In 2013-14, Vashon Island High School began collecting recyclable and compostable materials in the lunchroom.
• The food scraps and leftover liquids from the lunchroom were collected daily and given to local pig and chicken farmers for use on their farms.
• The school’s Green Team, led by student Hannah Van Dusen, created three-dimensional posters that were displayed around the school to inform students and staff about what can and can’t go into each bin.
• The school reduced waste in the lunchroom by using durable plates, lunch trays and utensils.
• Students used google documents to submit homework assignments and projects.
• All printers were set to automatically print double-sided to reduce paper consumption.
• Computers were not connected to a printer to encourage the use of the cloud and reduce the amount of print outs for projects and homework assignments.
• The school installed reusable water bottle filler stations throughout the school to encourage students to use reusable water bottles.
• Students created a video about the importance of waste reduction and recycling and shared it with the school community.
• The Green Team presented to the school board in March 2014 about the school’s Green School efforts and successes.
• The Green Team held an assembly to educate other students and staff on waste reduction and recycling best practices.
• The school shared information on waste reduction and recycling efforts through PA announcements.
• In 2015-16, the student Green Team:
  • engaged their peers in waste reduction and recycling strategies by hosting an educational booth at the school fair
  • made a video encouraging their peers to save resources by sorting their recycling and compostable material
  • added paper reuse boxes in classrooms.

Energy conservation (level two)

• The student Green Team:
  • regularly shared energy conservation tips and techniques with the school community.
  • made a poster about supporting salmon recovery through simple actions such as turning off lights in unoccupied rooms.
• Students and staff manually turned off light switches when leaving a room to prevent energy consumption. The occupancy sensors shut off lights if someone forgot to turn them off.
• When not in use, all computers were shut down each evening to conserve energy.
• The school building was managed by an nLight system with Sensorview software to conserve energy.

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

Jordan Browning, teacher
jbrowning@vashonsd.org