The Island School was Washington’s very first Platinum certified Washington Green School in 2017, and now they have another first — as the first Platinum school to recertify, making them a Sustaining Platinum School. Like all recertifying schools, a tree will be planted in Washington in The Island School’s honor.

Green Team students, teachers and parents led all The Island School students in many environmentally friendly activities this year. They cleared Scotch broom at Fay Bainbridge Park, planted flower and vegetable gardens, sewed cloth napkins for lunch boxes, distributed a carpool map, ran a freecycle booth at the school’s carnival, constructed replacement worm bins and campaigned to use fewer paper towels to save bird habitat.

A consortium of solid waste, air quality, and sustainability professionals and educators started Washington Green Schools in 2009. Today, Washington Green Schools advances sustainability in 538 schools statewide.

The Island School is an independent school educating students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Island School students remove Scotch broom from Fay Bainbridge Park to celebrate Earth Day. (Ursula Pontieri photo)

Students and parents replace the old worm bins at The Island School with sturdy new ones. Worms turn lunch scraps into compost for the school’s flower and vegetable gardens. (Adrienne Brown photo)