Green Up Our Schools

Bill Roberts K-8 Elementary

Green Up Our Schools member since 2010

During the 3 years of the program, each school creates their own "green" plan to recycle more and waste less.

View photos of all the green activities in action.


Waste Reduction Projects Each school must complete a minimum of two waste reduction projects per year. Click on each title to view a more detailed description.

Year 1
Student Green Team Formed a group of eco-minded students to take on the responsibility of the recycling program and carry out green activities. (Learn more.)	2010-2011
Commercial Composting Began a contract for commercial composting services for food & paper waste. Each week, hundreds of pounds of lunchroom waste are hauled from the school to a facility that processes it all back into soil. (Learn more.)	2010-2011
Reusable Silverware in the Lunchroom Replaced plastic utensils with reusable metal silverware to eliminate the amount of waste created in the lunchroom each day. (Learn more.)	2010-2011
Snack Taxis Sold reusable "Snack Taxis" to reduce the use of disposable plastic bags in student lunches. (Learn more.)	2010-2011
Year 2
Composting Expanded to Bathrooms Expanded commercial composting beyond the lunchroom to capture the paper towels thrown away in the bathrooms every day. Green bins placed in bathrooms for collection. (Learn more.)	2011-2012
Double-Sided Copying Campaign A Double-Sided Copying Campaign emphasizes the importance of conserving paper by printing on both sides of the page whenever possible. Students create an education campaign and track actual paper usage. (Learn more.)	2011-2012
Scratch Paper Reuse Boxes Scratch paper reuse boxes are for paper that had only been used on one side. Placed in every classroom, they help promote paper conservation and save costs for the school. (Learn more.)	2011-2012
Year 3
Paper Towel Reduction Campaign A paper towel reduction campaign raises awareness on the use of paper towels in school, with the goal of reducing consumption. Students create a slogan and track usage patterns. (Learn more.)	2012-2013
Recycled Purchasing Policy A Recycled Purchasing Policy emphasizes the importance of buying goods with post-consumer recycled content to close the recycling loop by creating a demand for the kind of products that the school's recycling program creates. (Learn more.)	2012-2013
Zero Waste Lunch Campaign A Zero Waste Lunch Campaign involves teaching students how to bring a lunch from home without any disposable packaging. Reusable containers take the place of plastic bags. (Learn more.)	2012-2013

Waste Assessment Results

Every school in the program performs at least one waste assessment every year. This activity helps to show progress made and areas that still need improvement.

Percentage of Trash categorized as Recyclable
(Lower is better!)*

53%

22%

2010
(Fall)

2011
(Fall)

Year

*The presence of recyclable materials in the trash means students & teachers are not correctly sorting items they throw away. The lower the percentage, the more successful the recycling program.


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The students are so excited to be part of the green team and we've had nearly perfect attendance at every meeting.