• Green Team is open to all Old Mill students (K-5) who want to help make Old Mill and their community a better, cleaner, greener place to be! These leaders learn all about waste sorting at the beginning of the year and then supervise the recycling/compost/landfill stations at lunch…every single day of the year! This year, they conitinue supervising students during lunch, so each student at Old Mill can take on the responsibility of learning which items go in which bins for a few days. Our Green Team is led by the fantastic Mrs Demaret and Ms Kaye!
     
    This year, our Green Team continues to support sorting procedures and educate students, staff, and parents. They are also encouraging students to recycle ziploc bags and chip bags. We now have special containers purchased through Terracycle to collect these typically "landfill" items and send them away to be recycled. We are also collecting batteries from home. Finally, we ask parents to send in reusable utensils! We hope students do not need plastic wrapped "sporks" anymore! We continue to have our partnership with Zero Waste Marin who audits our lunch trash twice a year. We will also listen to a presentation by Choice Lunch regarding their food and packaging.
     
    History
    In 2017, all classrooms and school restrooms were equipped with new Zero Waste Marin composting bins, recycling bins, and signage.  Bathrooms compost paper towels and our Wednesday POP Club composts popcorn bags and popsicle sticks! In many classrooms Green Team leaders help manage classroom recycling bins and have been instrumental in training their peers (and teachers!) on proper recycling and composting.
     
    In fall 2017, ALL students were provided with bamboo utensils from ZWM to discourage the use of plastic "sporks" commonly taken for hot lunch. We are asking all families to help their child bring these to/from school and wash them. They have a velcro pouch and their name!
     
    Bamboo
     
    There are more initiatives coming this year. Stay tuned!
     
    Green Team has presented funny skits to the entire school to teach and promote proper waste sorting and has two representatives that attend all Student Council meetings.
     
    Read the audit of our school's waste program after our first year of implementation of these new lunch sorting procedures HERE. 
     
    Do you want ideas for making your child a Zero Waste Lunch? Go HERE!
     
    Green Team members help show their spirit every year by taking part in a poster contest and by painting signs for Safe Routes To School to encourage walking and riding bikes to school to reduce car traffic.