Parkview students sort cafeteria waste with care and purpose

At the end of their meals in the school cafeteria, students at Parkview Elementary School take a few extra steps to sort their trash according to the clear signage overhead. Nearby staff support the students in the sorting and help them with any questions. These steps are part of an effort to reduce landfill waste and costs through effective waste systems and receptacles; these steps also are an opportunity to teach environmental stewardship in all areas of our schools and to celebrate sustainability and positive habits and behaviour.

Thanks in part to a grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology, locally based RE Sources has been helping students and staff in six elementary schools in Bellingham Public Schools become efficient and effective sorters. The consistent and bold signage and the tangential environmental impact education is an effort to reduce the waste stream out of our schools. The project dovetails with the district’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) published in 2023.

One of the CAP tactical goals in the Facilities & Operations focus area states “by 2026, BPS will reduce production of waste by implementing uniform waste systems and receptacles in cafeterias, classrooms, and other spaces throughout the school buildings.”  Two other relevant CAP tactical goals have to do with “engaging students in student-powered stewardship opportunities” (in the Teaching & Learning focus area) and “embedding sustainability within BPS” (in the Habits & Culture focus area).

As we touch on some of our CAP tactical goals, BPS is grateful to our community partners, like RE Sources and Sanitary Services, who support our efforts and understand the systemwide approaches needed.

“Garbage, and the sorting of it, is a difficult task,” says Priscilla Brotherton who serves as the waste education specialist at RE Sources. “The rules change and the messaging is confusing.”

“But custodians are working hard to role model for students how to do the right thing,” she continued, “and the students are working hard to make a difference.”

Parkview is one of six schools in BPS that currently has a focused effort around waste reduction. Read more about the grant on the RE Sources site. The RE Sources write up shares some best practices for school staff and has links to toolkits to get started.

Bellingham Public Schools has worked with RE Sources over the past four decades on numerous initiatives, grants and contracts. These include green classrooms, clime time, cafeteria to garden, stormwater/water use efficiency and textile waste, to name only a few. It takes a community of passionate organizations like RE Sources to address waste, water and energy efficiency, climate education, and sustainability initiatives that reduce the carbon footprint of our schools.