Green Schools at MISD

For Earth Month in 2023, MISD is working with Ridwell to collect and recycle plastic film from MISD families.

Starting today we are hoping you can start collecting plastic film in your household like Ziploc bags, bubble wrap, air pillows used in shipping boxes, grocery bags, Prime shippers, cereal bags, bread bags, newspaper bags, produce bags, plastic wrapping and packaging, and poly-bags. From May 15 to May 19 students and families can drop off their collected plastic film at their school, which Ridwell will then pick up.

Here is a full list of what items Ridwell will accept for our plastic film recycling event.

The purpose of this partnership with Ridwell is to heighten awareness that plastic film (one of the biggest environmental pollutants that a household can have an effect on) can't be recycled in your recycling bin, but has to be collected and specially recycled.

This is the second year that the District is doing this event. Last year we collected 435 pounds of plastic film over just one week from all six of our schools! If we did this every week, it would be like saving plastic film equal to the weight of 2.5 elephants from the landfill each year!

As a thank you for collecting and recycling your plastic film, Ridwell will donate $25 to the school of your choice for each family that signs up for Ridwell's porch pick-up service of things that can be reused or recycled but are not accepted in curbside recycling bins (like plastic film, batteries, lightbulbs & more). You can easily recycle plastic film all year with Ridwell, the service that is making this Earth Month collection possible for our district.

Here is a link to flyers for each of our schools, as seen below, with information on our recycling event and the URL and QR code if you would like to sign up for Ridwell and have $25 donated to the school of your choice.

Here is the timeline of our plastic film recycling event:

April 17 – Families start saving plastic film
May 15-19 – Students/Families Drop off saved plastic film at their school

Earth Day 2023 Recycling Event

MISD Green Teams

MISD prioritizes sustainability education and has been involved in the King County Green School Program for ten years. Every year, we reaffirm our commitment to this important work. Through the practice of resource conservation and engagement of our students and staff, we aim to:

initiate and expand waste reduction and recycling practices and other conservation actions.
involve the whole school community in environmental stewardship.
operate environmentally efficient and responsible facilities.

District Green Team

The District Green Team is a group made up of every school's green team teachers and PTA Green Parent Reps, a principal rep, the superintendent, Food Service and Maintenance directors and students who meet three times each year to discuss best practices, successes, challenges, and mentoring opportunities between schools.

Green Square Team

The Green Square Team concept was created by the district green team to help create a support system so that the annual kick-off of every school's lunchroom would run smoothly. The four corners of the square represent stakeholders: 1) Principal 2) Custodian 3) Green team teacher 4) PTA Green Team Parent Rep. This meeting ensures that the launch of the lunchroom every fall has the support needed from all four corners for optimum success.

Parent Involvement

If you are a parent, interested in volunteering at your child's school on the green team, please contact your principal and find out who your school's green team teacher is and offer your support to them. Another option is to contact your PTA President and find out who, at your school, is the PTA Green Team Parent Rep and offer to support and work with them. There is a new parent green team under the PTA, as a sub-committee, called ACES, which stands for ACTION COMMITTEE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY. Here’s the link for ACES: https://miptacouncil.membershiptoolkit.com/aces

Below, you will find the most requested documents, that are needed to support this continued effort for principals, teachers and staff, custodians, students and families.

Green Guidelines for school events

MIHS Athletics Sustainability Pledge

Green Team Roles and Responsibilities

Parent Green Team Guidance and Calendar

District resolution on sustainability and environmental stewardship

King County Green Schools Program

Mercer Island School District is one of 14 school districts that partners with King County Green Schools to:

Initiate and expand waste reduction and recycling practices and other conservation actions.
Involve the whole school community in environmental stewardship.
Operate environmentally efficient and responsible facilities.

The King County Green Schools Program Vision is that “all schools and school district in King County will practice resource conservation and engage their students and staff in environmental stewardship.”

All six Mercer Island schools have been recognized as Sustaining Green Schools by King County: Island Park Elementary, Islander Middle School, Lakeridge Elementary, Mercer Island High School, Northwood Elementary and West Mercer Elementary.

King County has previously recognized Islander Middle School as a Level Three Green School for maintaining its Level One waste reduction and recycling practices and its Level Two energy conservation practices while meeting criteria in Level Three water conservation and pollution prevention.

Mercer Island School District was previously recognized as a Level One King County Green School District for its waste reduction and recycling policies and practices.

This program helps schools and school districts engage students and employees in learning about and practicing resource conservation. It provides hands-on help, guidance for Green Teams, and the tools schools need, such as information, indoor recycling bins, and a variety of conservation signs, to make improvements.

To earn the Sustaining Green School/School District recognition, schools and districts must have met criteria in three levels – Level One waste reduction and recycling; Level Two energy conservation; and Level Three water conservation and pollution prevention -- and completed an additional conservation action or educational strategy. Schools and districts that meet the criteria are recognized each year as Sustaining Green Schools.

The program helps teach students and staff to only recycle materials they know can be recycled. To reduce contamination in recycling bins and ensure markets for the collected recyclable materials, important messages such as “no liquids or food in recycling bins” are emphasized. Students in turn bring these lessons home.

“The schools we’re recognizing this spring have initiated or improved sustainable practices such as reducing paper use, reducing food waste, recycling, and conserving energy and water, all of which reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change,” said Dale Alekel, King County Green Schools Program manager.

Student Green Teams participate in activities such as monitoring energy use in classrooms, promoting walking, biking and carpooling to school, encouraging their peers to use durable water bottles, and creating videos about a variety of conservation practices.

Watch the Northwood Video on sorting recyclables

Lakeridge Elementary was previously honored with the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools award in 2017. Lakeridge was selected for its innovative efforts to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, improve health and wellness, and ensure effective sustainability education. The 64 districts and schools honored nationwide were named from a pool of candidates nominated by 28 states. Only two Washington state schools were selected that year.