1. Be Green; Green Get Green SES Community Yard Sale - Hosted by SES Green Team, the Green Beanz, on May 5th, this community yard is for members of our community to sell their belongings. These items will be reused by another community member instead of being thrown away, reducing the amount of solid waste in the landfill. Proceeds from renting parking spaces to yard sale participants will be used to buy recycling bins for the 25% of SES staff who are using cardboard boxes or who do not have bins in their classrooms. 2. Trout in the Classroom - We have participated in Trout in the Classroom for the past 12 years, and over time it has become a staple in our 4th grade environmental education program. Not only do the students learn how to care for the Rainbow Trout, they also develop an understanding of the issues that threaten the trout's survival in the Bay and what we as stakeholders can do to protect the trout. 3. Conserving energy is essential to being green, and we have two initiatives at SES that encourage us to turn off our lights and save energy. "We Saw YOU Being Green" is a program where each class keep tracks on a class poster of the number of times the students turns off the lights in their classrooms. Our second activity is that students at all grade levels are designing and creating new light switch plate covers for all the light switches in SES. 4. Recycle, Recycle, Recycle - "Waste Free Wednesday" lunches Over this period of time, students have started bringing waste free lunches not only on Wednesdays, but other days of the week as well. All students now receive their lunches on corrugated cardboard trays that are completely recyclable. No more water is wasted washing plastic trays. Styrofoam trays are never used. Students do not only recycle in the cafeteria. Recycling bins are located in the majority of classrooms and team areas. Every week the Green Beanz bring these recyclables to the appropriate containers. Additional recycling bins for staff members who do not have them or who are using cardboard boxes will be purchased with the proceeds from the Be Green; Get Green Community Yard Sale. 5. Water conservation and pollution prevention are important to us at SES. We have created signs to remind students to conserve water when washing their hands. In our newly renovated building we now have two water bottle filling stations so students can refill their water bottles instead of drinking bottled water. The Green Beanz on average pick up litter 2 times a month to prevent any trash from going down into the drains that lead into the Chesapeake Bay. Finally, with the renovation, SES Now has a bioretention area filled with plants and grasses that need no water. These will
Swansfield Elementary School's students, staff, and community are driven to being GREEN by the reward of responsible stewardship of our environment. Our community would be extremely proud to have our efforts recognized by a Green School recertification. Thank you.