Earth Hero at School nominations due March 1

Are you a teacher, student, staff member, school, school district, or school volunteer in King County involved in a project at your school or community to protect our environment? Then you are eligible to be nominated as an Earth Hero at school. Submit a nomination in one of these categories: Waste reduction, reuse, or recycling Food waste prevention or food waste collection for composting Household hazardous waste prevention or management Sustainable gardening, landscaping, or building Climate change education or greenhouse gas emissions reduction Submit nominations online by March 1, 2018. Earth Heroes will be honored at an event in May 2018. Contact Donna Miscolta or call 206-477-5282 for more information.

Elementary school Green Teams news

Under the leadership of Patti Foryan, the Cascade Ridge Elementary Green Team switched to reusable utensils in the lunchroom. The team surveyed other schools to learn about successes and challenges.  They worked with the kitchen staff to order utensils and develop a process for making and promoting the change. The team announced the change in newsletters, during lunch periods and in reminder slips home to families. These efforts result in less plastic going to the landfill.

Secondary school Green Team news

Five groups of students at Gibson Ek High School addressed waste reduction-related challenges suggested by the King County Green Teams program for the school’s fall 2017 Innovation Challenge. Principal Julia Bamba invited the program to present locally relevant challenge options and serve as one of the judges for the event. Students had two days to research and develop innovative solutions.  Solutions included a school-wide (and potentially district-wide) recycled arts competition, composting kits for elementary schools, an aquaponics display to demonstrate the value of reusing waste, and a paper-free campus.

Free public speaking workshop for middle/high school students February 19

The Sustainability Ambassadors program is holding a free half-day workshop on public speaking for middle and high school students on February 19. Students will learn how to speak up, speak out, and speak with style. They will practice sustainable systems thinking, use data to build the case for what’s working, and persuade peers, teachers, and community stakeholders. The workshop will be held at the Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village and food will be provided. Students can register online here. For more information, contact Peter Donaldson.

Environmental resources for teachers

King County has environmental resources for educators seeking curricula that meet state and federal education requirements, lessons plans that engage students or adult learners, and field trips or field projects. College and high school students can also find links to internships.

 Among the resources available are elementary and secondary versions of the Stormwater Runoff Education Resource Guide. The guide lists services from various providers, curricula, transportation information, in-class trainers, workshops, presentations, camps, and costs.

 Another stormwater education resource is Drain Rangers, a curriculum that consists of lesson plans, PowerPoints, and videos that have been tested, evaluated and refined in classrooms. The lessons help develop an understanding of stormwater runoff and the actions we can take for clean water. Students use problem-solving similar to the strategies engineers use to address polluted stormwater runoff. Spanish-language versions of Drain Rangers will be available in spring 2018. 

Carton 2 Garden Project provides free seeds

The fourth annual national Carton 2 Garden Contest, sponsored by Evergreen Packaging is now underway. Open to public and private schools, contest winners will be selected based on their creation of a garden featuring innovative and sustainable uses for repurposed milk and juice cartons. Register your interest today and get free seeds, along with a tips sheet for getting started.

Fourteen schools will be awarded prize packages, including a grand prize worth $5,000. Spring 2018 Carton 2 Garden entry forms must be submitted by April 16, 2018. 

April 3 is National Healthy Schools Day

This annual event focuses on children’s environmental health and safe school environments. Find information and resources for this year at the Health Schools Network.

Earth Day is April 22

It isn’t too early to start thinking about what your school will do for Earth Day. Resources and ideas are listed below.

• The national Earth Day Network intends to have Earth Day 2018 mark the first step in its End Plastic Pollution campaign.
• The King County Green Schools Program has created an activity guide specifically for King County schools.
• The National Wildlife Federation, in partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation, Conservation Northwest, and other local organizations, is presenting the second annual Wildlife in the City week. The week-long series of events culminates with a Wildlife Festival for all ages at Discovery Park on April 21, 1-5 PM. There you and your family can learn how to have a positive impact on wildlife living among us.

Free community repair events

Again this year, the King County EcoConsumer program will offer free community repair events all over King County. Anyone can bring in items, such as lamps, chairs, a small appliances, and clothing for experienced “fixers” to try to repair and mend them. Generally, fixers are able to repair more than 70 percent of the items that come in. If you’re in the Federal Way area or on Vashon Island, local community organizations expect to offer repair events in 2018. Contact the South King Tool Library  or the Vashon Tool Library for more information. Tool libraries in Seattle also sponsor “fixers collectives” that are similar to repair events.

What schools need to know about China’s import ban on some recyclable materials

China is the largest consumer of recyclable materials exported from the United States. U.S. recyclers, particularly on the Pacific coast, have relied on China’s lower labor costs to sort contaminated materials, low shipping costs, and its need for recyclable materials in manufacturing new products.  Last year, China announced that by 2018 it plans to ban the import of some recyclable materials to reduce the amount of contaminated materials brought into the country. It also announced a new and stringent contamination standard of 0.3 percent to take effect in 2018. A typical, permitted recycling facility allows contamination rates of 3 to 5 percent.