Redmond Elementary School Green Team

Mission statement: Our mission as Redmond elementary school's green team is to inspire and empower our school community to live more sustainably and protect our planet. We aim to promote eco-conscious habits and behaviors, reduce waste and energy consumption, and create a healthier and cleaner environment for ourselves and future generations. Through education, advocacy, and action, we strive to create a culture of sustainability that celebrates and preserves the natural world around us.

What are we upto?

Last school year, our student team received recognition from King County's Green School (KCGS). You can find more information about the program on the KCGS website.

This year we are trying to achieve level one Green School certification through King County's Green School program by increasing our recycling rate & reducing the amount of waste that we generate at school.

Students interested to be part of the Green team need to fill out the application form.

How can you help?

Consider joining lunch-monitoring programs.
Are you good in writing and identifying grants? Email sustainability@redmondelptsa.org for more information.
Microsoft employees to donate via the Microsoft Give program to get their donations matched.

Upcoming Events:

Green Team meeting: Next meeting will be held on May 10th.

EarthDay Week Celebration: Aprill 22 - April 26 is loaded with activities to celebrate the Earth Day Week Redmond Hawk style.

Monday 4/22: Everybody wears green to symbolize Earth Day; an amazing student, the Lunch Monitor Champion will do the morning announcement; the school library will host a list of choice reading for the student.
Tuesday 4/23: Students from Green Team will do presentations to different classroom; Art from Trash is an individual classroom event.
Wednesday 4/24: Planting event.
Thursday 4/25: Waste Free Lunch Day. The goal is to minimize the single-use-waste by encouraging students and their families to pack lunches in a more environmentally friendly way.
Friday 4/26: Lunch recess session on compost and worm bins.

Walk to School Event:

Join the Walk to a Greener Future!

Mark your calendars for a special day of community spirit and environmental stewardship! Redmond Elementary proudly presents the Walking School Bus Event on May 17th, in collaboration with the City of Redmond’s SchoolPool initiative.

This isn’t just a celebration; it’s a stride towards the Redmond 2050 Vision of nurturing connected communities, sustainability, and resilience. Let’s come together at Anderson Park and join Mayor Birney on a refreshing walk to our beloved school.

Have a creative banner about road safety? We’d love to see it! Bring your banners and let’s make a statement for safety on our streets.

See you there for a step in the right direction!

Ridwell Plastic Pickup: Save up your Plastic Film! This plastic cannot be recycled curbside, so bring it to school and drop it off at the collection bin, located near the front office, for the entire month of May.

BookSwap Event: Currently accepting donations of gently used books (K-5th grade appropriate) for our annual end of the school year BookSwap event. Donation bins are located by the front office.

Student volunteer for Lunch monitoring: We are looking for student lunch-monitoring volunteers. Lunch monitors help the school recycle, and compost correctly after lunch. Keeping our recycle bins contamination free will help us achieve the Green School Level one recognition.

Student led presentation for classrooms: We are seeking out students who are interested in giving presentations to other classrooms on the following topics: a) Why do we recycle and how to recycle correctly? b) Common myths around recycling and composting. c) What goes into a compost bin and its benefits. d) Any recycling project of your choice.

Past Events:

Spring 2024

Lunch monitoring: Parent volunteers actively participate in the Lunch Monitoring Program, ensuring the proper maintenance of our compost and recycling bins to prevent contamination. Additionally, they provide support to student volunteers, empowering them to assume leadership roles and eventually run this program independently in the future.

During March, our school had the privilege of welcoming a program coordinator from the King Conservation District. This insightful visit included an engaging discussion on the importance of soil health, highlighting the vital role it plays in our ecosystem. Additionally, our students were presented with a hands-on learning opportunity, allowing them to collect soil samples from our school garden. These samples were then used to conduct soil testing, further enriching our students’ understanding of environmental science and stewardship.

Science Fair. We are thrilled to report the success of our school’s Green Team in their recent sustainability showcase at Science Fair. These dedicated students presented a variety of projects that brought the concepts of recycling, reusing, and upcycling to life. They ingeniously showcased a project by a fellow City of Redmond resident to repurposed empty glass jars into miniature greenhouses, providing a tangible demonstration of the greenhouse effect. Their recycled paper and recycled paper bloom seed cards were a hit, offering a beautiful and practical way to see upcycling in action.
The highlight was an interactive game created by the Green Team, which educated fellow students on the importance of proper waste sorting and the meaning behind bin colors. This hands-on approach not only makes learning fun but also instills important values of environmental responsibility and left a last impression on all who participated.

We commend our students for their creativity and commitment to promoting sustainability within our school. Their efforts have not only enriched our community but also set a precedent for future environmental initiatives.
In the month of February, our school hosted Recycling Expert, from the City of Redmond, for a lunchtime presentation on recycling, composting, sorting of trash, and waste reduction during our lunchtime session. Our students greatly benefited from the practical insights and hands-on demonstrations. The representative’s passion for environmental sustainability was truly inspiring and has motivated our students to be more conscious about their waste disposal habits. We believe that the knowledge gained from this session will go a long way in shaping our students into responsible citizens who are mindful of their environmental footprint. Once again, we extend our sincere thanks to the City of Redmond representative for their valuable time and effort. Let’s all strive to make our school, city, and planet a cleaner and greener place to live!

Fall 2023

Lunch monitoring: Parent volunteers participated in Lunch monitoring program to keep our compost and recycling bins contamination free.

Visual posters: Our students have created visual posters as We are trying to educate our school community how to recycle and compost correctly. We used commonly found trash, recycled materials, and pictures of compostable waste found in school lunch, to make colorful and creative posters.
Grow towers: In our December Green Team meeting, we learned about aeroponic gardening and grow towers. Grow towers are a great option when you have limited garden space. We also voted for what kind of produce we want to plant. Watermelon, lettuce, spinach, cilantro, mint, and cherry tomatoes were some of the winners. We will have a salad party as the end-of-school year celebration in June.
SchoolPool program: 171 students participated in the city of Redmond's SchoolPool program by walking, biking, and carpooling to the school. Your participation generated funds for the PTSA.

Spring 2023

Earth Day celebration: Our students participated in campus cleanup.