NEW — 6 a.m. May 10, 2015
Eastlake High School and the Issaquah School District were recognized for their conservation efforts during King County’s annual Earth Heroes at School ceremony on May 5.
King County Executive Dow Constantine and Pat McLaughlin, the county’s solid waste division director, presented the awards to several individual students, teachers and schools.
This year, the program recognizes actions in waste reduction, reuse or recycling; food-waste prevention or food-waste collection for composting; household hazardous waste prevention or management; and climate change education or greenhouse gas emission reductions.
The Issaquah School District was recognized in the waste reduction and recycling category. Since joining the King County Green Schools program in April 2005, the district increased its recycling rate from 30 percent to 56 percent, with all 24 of its schools improving its waste-reduction rates.
Eastlake High School’s environmental club was honored in the food waste category. The club started a food scrap collection program and, within three months, diverted more than 4,300 pounds of food from landfills. Club members have spent more than 360 hours volunteering at lunch sorting stations, and meeting after school to develop and improve the program.