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King County Green Schools program success story: Issaquah School District

Success story: Issaquah School District

Number of schools in the district: 24

Began participating in the Green Schools Program: April 2005

Green School District, Level One: Achieved in May 2011
Green School District, Level Two: Achieved in May 2012

Waste reduction and recycling

  • Prior to participation in the King County Green School Program, the district-wide recycling rate was approximately 30 percent. Following program assistance, the recycling rate jumped to 55.6 percent.
  • All 24 schools in the Issaquah School District have implemented recycling and waste reduction programs and, as of 2012, achieved a combined total recycling increase of 6,091 cubic yards per year and a combined garbage volume decrease of 4,301 yards per year.
  • Three elementary schools - Sunset Hills, Discovery and Cougar Ridge - discontinued use of disposable lunch trays and began using washable, durable trays. These schools have a combined student population of more than 1,700 students.
  • By replacing liquid soap dispensers with foam soap, the Issaquah School District saved water, time and money – and created less waste. Liquid dispensers and foam dispensers are the same size, but differ significantly in cost, waste generation, water use and maintenance. Read the full foam soap dispenser case studyDownload PDF 24 K.
  • Issaquah School District has distributed more than 60 dollies to help custodians make recycling collection more efficient.
  • King County Green Schools Program and City of Issaquah have provided 225 classroom recycling containers, 40 32-gallon recycling collection containers for centralized collection of milk cartons, plastic bottles and aluminum cans, and many dollies.

The schools listed below either increased the size of their outdoor recycling Dumpster or increased the frequency of recycling pick-up.

  • Beaver Lake Middle School
  • Cascade Ridge Elementary School
  • Clark Elementary School
  • Cougar Ridge Elementary School
  • Discovery Elementary School
  • Grand Ridge Elementary School
  • Issaquah High School
  • Liberty High School
  • Maywood Middle School
  • Newcastle Elementary School
  • Pacific Cascade Middle School
  • Pine Lake Middle School
  • Skyline High School
  • Sunny Hills Elementary School

The schools listed below decreased the size of their outdoor garbage Dumpster or decreased garbage collection frequency.

Issaquah School District: John Macartney, district Resource Conservation Manager
John Macartney, Resource Conservation Manager of the Issaquah School District, accepts Certificate of Recognition from Jeff Gaisford, Manager of Recycling & Environmental Services, King County Solid Waste Division.
Issaquah School District: Elementary school children carefully empty leftover milk before recycling their milk cartons.
Elementary school children carefully empty leftover milk before recycling their milk cartons.
Issaquah School District: Elementary school children carefully empty leftover milk before recycling their milk cartons.
Jan Woldseth, school board president of the Issaquah School District, receives Certificate of Recognition for the district from Jeff Gaisford.
  • Apollo Elementary School
  • Beaver Lake Middle School
  • Briarwood Elementary School
  • Cascade Ridge Elementary School
  • Challenger Elementary School
  • Cougar Ridge Elementary School
  • Creekside Elementary School
  • Discovery Elementary School
  • Issaquah High School
  • Issaquah Middle School
  • Issaquah Valley Elementary School
  • Liberty High School
  • Maywood Middle School
  • Newcastle Elementary School
  • Pacific Cascade Middle School
  • Pine Lake Middle School
  • Skyline High School
  • Sunny Hills Elementary School
  • Sunset Elementary School

Cost savings: Thanks to waste reduction and recycling programs throughout the district, since 2005-06, the district’s annual garbage costs have remained stable. The annual garbage costs for the district were $181,162 in September 2005, and were $182,360 in 2011.

Energy conservation

Since 2000, Issaquah School District has maintained a database of energy use for each school. During 2000-01, the district used 132,455 MBTUs of energy. Since then, Issaquah School District has implemented an energy conservation program to closely monitor on/off operational times and several conservation efforts that included placing vending misers on all vending machines, installing CO2 sensors in gymnasiums, libraries and multipurpose rooms to modulate outside air dampers, replacing T12 florescent bulbs and old ballasts with T8 fluorescent lights and new electronic ballasts in several schools, upgrading HVAC equipment in a few buildings, and initiating a conservation education program for staff and students throughout the district. As of 2012, as result of these efforts, the district’s energy consumption was reduced to 125,290 MBTUs and the district was using 5.4 percent less energy than it did in 2000-01, even though it added nearly 20 percent more square footage in new and renovated school facilities.

Water conservation

Issaquah School District:

  • maintains a database of water consumption (potable and irrigation) for each school.
  • specified low flow toilets, faucets and urinals as building standards.
  • installed faucet aerators in many schools. The half-gallon aerators at Discovery Elementary reduced water flow from 12-gallons per minute to a one-half-gallon per minute.
  • installed 18 hose bib timers and Cal Sense irrigation controllers to control school irrigation systems, which has kept the irrigation water use about the same over the last 10 years even with the addition of five buildings with new irrigation systems.
  • improved control of auto-flush urinals, resulting in a 34 percent reduction in water use.

Awards

Green Globe Award: Issaquah School District received the 2009 Green Globe award for being one of the "best of the best" organizations by King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks for its recycling and conservation programs.

King County Earth Heroes at School Awards from 2001-2014:

  • 2001 - Maywood Middle School teachers Seth Adams, Alice Finch, Jacquie Hyler, Tara Nessen, Dawn Robinson, Bob Ruud, Mike Sullivan, Holly Wagner
  • 2003 - Beaver Lake Middle School Student - Matt Gelber
  • 2005 - Beaver Lake Middle School teacher - Doug Emery,
  • 2005 - Discovery Elementary School teacher – Tasha Kirby
  • 2005 - Issaquah Valley Elementary School custodian - Dusty Duke, and teacher - Susan Meyer
  • 2006 - Newcastle Elementary School staff - Dave Holbrook
  • 2007 - Maywood Middle School teacher - Meggan Atkins
  • 2007 - Endeavor Elementary School teachers - Gabrielle Herring, Diane Parham and Leslie Smith, 2007 - Apollo Elementary School Recycling Program
  • 2007 - Sunny Hills Elementary School Recycling Program
  • 2008 - Discovery Elementary School teachers - Tasha Kirby, Sue McNamara
  • 2008 - Clark Elementary School Science-Technology Magnet Program
  • 2009 - Challenger Elementary School staff - Hank Klein, Michael Getty
  • 2009 - Issaquah Middle School Recycling Program
  • 2010 - Pine Lake Middle School teacher - Meagan Elliot
  • 2010 - Cascade Ridge Elementary School Recycling Program
  • 2010 - Maywood Middle School Recycling Program
  • 2010 - Pine Lake Middle School Recycling Program
  • 2011 - Grand Ridge Elementary School Recycling Program
  • 2011 - Issaquah Middle School teachers - Olga Haider, Michelle Picard
  • 2011 - Issaquah High School student - Kate Brunette
  • 2011 - Creekside Elementary School staff - Dave Holbrook
  • 2012 – Grand Ridge Elementary School teachers – Renee de Tolla and Ashley Hirst
  • 2012 – Issaquah Valley Elementary School
  • 2012 – Newcastle Elementary School
  • 2013 – Apollo Elementary School
  • 2013 – Creekside Elementary School
  • 2013 – Issaquah Middle School
  • 2013 – Sunset Elementary School
  • 2013 – Creekside Elementary School staff – Judy Bowlby
  • MRC volunteer Suzanne Bagdon, Briarwood Elementary School
  • 2014 – Skyline High School staff – Wes Buchanan
  • 2014 – Sunny Hills Elementary School teachers – Kathy Dunn, Cody Johansen, Cami Przybylski and Jane Ulrich
  • 2014 – Creekside Elementary School Waste Watcher Captains
  • 2014 – Challenger Elementary School Waste Watchers

Comments

The King County Green Schools Program provides the necessary guidance and tools to build successful recycling, energy conservation and water conservation programs that can save school district money and educate staff and students about recycling and other conservation actions. Schools are great places to influence student behavior and attitudes about the earth and its natural resources.” – John Macartney, Resource Conservation Manager, 2000 - 2014

For more information about this district’s participation in the King County Green Schools Program, contact:

Dawn Wallace
WallaceD@issaquah.wednet.edu

Related Information

Feb. 24, 2014
King County conservation program honors four Issaquah schools external link
From the Issaquah Press.

March 1, 2013
Issaquah District, Sunset Elementary Recognized for 'Green' Efforts external link
King County's Green Schools Program helps schools and districts reduce waste, cut garbage disposal costs, and lower energy and water consumption and costs.
From the Sammamish-Issaquah Patch.

Apr. 24, 2012
Issaquah schools recognized for compost, recycling program external link
From the Issaquah Reporter.

April 23, 2012
Issaquah School District Recognized for Resource Conservation external link
From the Sammamish-Issaquah Patch

Jan. 31, 2012
Briarwood Elementary honored by county Green Schools Program external link
From the Issaquah Press.

Visit Green Schools News for older articles.

King County Solid Waste Division mission: Waste Prevention, Resource Recovery, Waste Disposal

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