To celebrate Earth Day, the city of Issaquah joined the Issaquah School District to issue a Waste Free Wednesday Challenge to every school in the district.
The winning schools are Apollo Elementary, Issaquah Middle and Issaquah High schools.
The challenge was an opportunity for schools to become more aware of their own waste generation and also see how they compared to others throughout the district.
Districtwide, 19 schools, representing about 15,000 students and staff, accepted the challenge.
On Earth Day, schools weighed their cafeteria waste in the presence of a community waste auditor, including representatives from the cities of Issaquah and Bellevue, local businesses and community organizations. The city provided the schools with scales and posters detailing what is recyclable, compostable and garbage.
The entire district generated only 421 pounds of lunch waste. Per student, that’s about a half-ounce of waste on average — less than the weight of three quarters.
Apollo’s 600 students generated only 2 pounds of waste for the whole school. Issaquah Valley Elementary School was second with less than 5 pounds of waste for its 624 students and Cougar Ridge Elementary School was third with less than 5 pounds of waste for its 610 students.
To recognize the achievement, each elementary school received a creature clock made of recycled materials.
Issaquah Middle was tops, as its almost 800 students and staff generated less than 7 pounds of trash at lunch, while Issaquah High School generated about 120 pounds of waste from its more than 2,000 students. The two schools received banners to display on campus.