What’s Next? Spring is almost here and so is Earth Day (April 22 to be exact). This spring, GREEN Team will be launching a Zero Waste in the Cafeteria initiative. Beginning to recycle in the cafeteria daily and compost food scraps from lunch one day a week will begin shortly. The GREEN Team used Get2Green funds to purchase a large recycling bin for the cafeteria and was awarded a grant from Fairfax Food Council, which provided two compost tumblers that will reside in the school garden area and buckets to use to collect food waste that can be composted. GREEN Team members, with help of Dr. Fisher-Maltese (STEAM) and Mr. and Mrs. Rice (Garden Club), will collect the buckets and take them to the compost tumblers after the lunch periods on the designated day. GREEN Team is working on a 1-minute broadcast for the Morning News to share with the school community about these pilots. Stay tuned! 

About the GREEN Team? The GREEN Team is a student-led club that takes on environmental initiatives at our school, such as recycling, composting, reducing waste, and conserving animals. It’s comprised of third-sixth graders. We meet the first Wednesday of each month before school in Dr. Fisher-Maltese’s STEAM Lab (Room 126). Students, teachers, staff, administrators, custodians, and parents (really everyone in our school community) are welcome to join and attend meetings! Our next meeting is April 2! Last year, Willow Springs earned a Green Flag designation from National Wildlife Federation’s EcoSchools USA Program. At the end of last year, we made a video called We are the GREEN Team. Please view the video here.