Green Up Our Schools

Denison Montessori Elementary

Green Up Our Schools member from 2009 to 2011

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.)	2009-2010
Zero Waste Lunch Campaign Taught students how to bring a lunch from home without any disposable packaging. Created a reward system for kids who brought food in reusable containers with no disposable packaging. (Learn more.)	2009-2010
Year 2
Scratch Paper Reuse Boxes Created scratch paper reuse boxes for paper that had only been used on one side. Placed in every classroom and tracked the usage. (Learn more.)	2010-2011
Electronic Communication between Parents, Faculty The school collected parent email addresses in order to use electronic communication in place of paper. (Learn more.)	2010-2011
Year 3
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.)	2012-2013
Reusable Trays in the Lunchroom Plan to replace disposable trays with reusable alternatives to eliminate the amount of waste created in the lunchroom each day. (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!)*

43%

17%

12%

2010
(Spring)

2010
(Fall)

2011
(Spring)

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.


Back to All Schools

We started with one thing back in 2009: recycling. Then it evolved into so much more. The program is flexible enough to let us expand wherever we wanted to go. Now look at us -- we're composting in the lunchroom and the bathrooms, and our bins are overflowing!