January 27, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Redmond, Wash. – Eight schools in Lake Washington School District already have food scrap recycling programs in their cafeterias, kitchens, student stores and teacher lounges. Another six are preparing to implement programs in the coming weeks. These food scrap recycling programs offer the district a way to save money by reducing waste costs by up to half, while providing students with the opportunity to learn about environmentally-friendly waste reduction.

Food recycling in schools began in Lake Washington School District in 2006 at Juanita Elementary. Most schools’ programs so far have been the result of efforts by the City of Kirkland and the City of Redmond, as these cities provide food recycling free of charge to customers within the city limits.

Food recycling can reduce a school’s waste costs by 25-50 percent and schools actively recycling food waste have the lowest costs per student. In 2008, the average annual waste cost in Kirkland and Redmond schools was $10 per student. For those with food recycling programs, the average annual waste cost was $7 per student. That meant a total cost savings of over $10,000 in 2008. In looking at these cost savings, the district decided to begin implementing the program in as many Redmond and Kirkland schools as possible to reduce waste bills. The district aims to have all programs in place by the end of 2009. It estimates the total savings for having all schools in Redmond and Kirkland participate in the program at $35,000 annually.

Food scrap recycling produces less waste as most food items are recycled instead of disposed in traditional waste containers. The schools collect the food scraps during lunch and then Cedar Grove Composting, based in Maple Valley, Wash., collects the waste twice per week.

An equally important benefit of the program is the environmental education provided to students. Each day they have a visible example of good earth stewardship. Students often hold assemblies to educate other students on why food recycling is important and Cedar Grove Composting has offered to bring some bags of compost back to the schools to show them the end product. Students play an active role in the success of these programs as they help with advertising and educating other students the week before kick-off of the program. Students also help monitor the food recycling stations to ensure that only the right types of waste go in to the food recycling containers.

Because of this ownership of the program, these programs have seen much success. In fact, Franklin Elementary, which launched their program a few weeks ago, reported a 66 percent decline in trash from their cafeteria on just the first day. Other programs take several weeks to see results, while people get the hang of recycling their food scraps, instead of just throwing these items away in traditional waste receptacles.

The following schools will be implementing food scrap recycling programs in the next few weeks: Lakeview Elementary, Redmond Elementary, Twain Elementary, Evergreen Junior High, Mann Elementary, and Juanita High School. See the chart below for specific program launch dates.

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About Lake Washington: Lake Washington School District is a high-performing public school district serving Kirkland, Redmond and Sammamish, Washington. It is the sixth largest district in the state of Washington, with over 23,000 students in 50 schools.