Sustainability

Recent News: Save The Albatross

After seeing the plastics presentation on March 26 (see below), Denise's 2nd grade class decided to see how much plastic waste they were producing at home by collecting unrecyclable plastic lids. They used the lids to create a beautiful Albatross mosaic and documented their work in the "Save The Albatross" [PDF] project.

Recent News: Earth Day!

This year's Green Team and Sustainability Committee worked hand-in-hand to produce an incredible Earth Day Celebration that included games, interactive learning, solar houses, and hydrogen fueled cars, along with a soap box where voices of reason and change could be heard! The video below was produced by Bertschi parents, Eric Perret and Jake Evans.

Recent News: Plastics

On March 26th, a Bertschi Parent, Jane Hedreen, worked in collaboration with a Bertschi Green Team member to create a presentation for the second through fifth grade classes to show the dramatic effects of plastics on our environment, and to encourage small means by which we can all make changes to help with this issue. The demonstration highlights the photography of Chris Jordan as a way to understand the magnitude of the issue, and gives hopeful and plentiful ideas for change. The presentation titled Plastic Problems can be downloaded as a PowerPoint presentation.

Our Commitment

Bertschi School has a strong commitment to sustainability. This focus is woven into the school’s curriculum, operations, and the choices of the school community as a whole. Our sustainable curriculum means that each grade level focuses on different aspect of humanity’s impact on the environment.

In second grade, for example, students study the connection between our earth and table by visiting an organic farm, a food market, and a food bank. They put on their very own “green” market, donating the proceeds to a food bank or another part of the Pike Place Market community.

Operationally, Bertschi strives to minimize its impact on the earth. Some of our practices include energy conservation and organic gardening with a school wide focus on paper conservation. The School uses green cleaning supplies, rainwater captures, and composting/waste reduction. In addition, the Bertschi Center epitomizes our focus on sustainable practices. The Bertschi Center, which is the first Gold LEED certified elementary classroom building in Washington State, is a real life example of sustainable building technology. Students have the opportunity to interact with this real-life sustainable environment as they go to classes in the Bertschi Center.

Bertschi reaches out to parents and the community by encouraging carpooling or “green” transportation, waste free lunches, highlighting sustainability issues in the parent update, and continuing to educate parents about what we can do at home to protect our earth. For more information about sustainability, see our sustainability resources page.

Washington Green Schools

is a voluntary, web-based program our school is using to reduce its environmental impact and carbon footprint. This program provides resources and tools to involve our school community in assessing the current status of the campus and take action for improvement. Washington Green Schools is organized into five Environmental Categories, with five Levels (Levels 1-5). The Environmental Categories are listed below, followed by the actions Bertschi School has taken in each area.

1. Energy Efficiency - Thermostats set at 68 degrees in all buildings, door holds removed from exterior doors so that they cannot be propped open during winter months, food purchased for events will be organic and be served on reusable dishware, computers are either off or put to sleep when not in use.
2. Recycling & Waste Reduction - Garbage dumpster reduced in size to encourage recycling - implemented in Fall of 2009.
3. Toxics Reduction & Indoor Air Quality - Use of non-alcohol based hand sanitizers, with goal of reduced use of this type of hand-washing in the future.
4. Transportation & Outdoor Air Quality - Carpooling encouraged and a “no idling” policy established for cars waiting to pick up students at the end of the school day.
5. Water Quality & Conservation - Student tree planting activity at Cedar River Watershed to support salmon habitat.

Schools earn points by completing six steps for each Level. There are five possible Levels to attain. Certification at each Level is achieved by choosing an Environmental Category as your area of focus, completing an Assessment in this Category, addressing the Assessment findings with a long-lasting environmental change, and implementing one action item in each of the other four Environmental Categories.

Schools must earn a minimum of 100 points per Level to achieve Certification. Each Level is designed to take approximately one year. All schools start at Level 1.

Bertschi School, through the efforts of the Sustainability Committee and the Green Team,has just completed the Energy Efficiency Assessment and has attained level one of the WGS certification. We will be awarded a flag of honor on June 15th at the groundbreaking event for our Living Building Project! Next year, we will focus on transportation and outdoor air quality by engaging in a thorough audit of our current school climate and then we will be addressing one of the assessment findings with a long-lasting environmental change. Finally, will also be implementing one action item in each of the other four environmental categories.

To learn more about Washington Green Schools, go to: www.wagreenschools.org