Go Green Initiative School of the Week: Monte Gardens Elementary School

We are so proud to have Monte Gardens Elementary School as our first Go Green Initiative’s School of Week for 2008!

Teacher, Celeste McCullough has done a fabulous job spearheading the recycling group and getting donations. Their parent club donated money so each classroom could have a blue recycling bin. CA Conservation donated outside recycling bins and Ace Hardware donated garbage cans and gloves. Since September, they have recycled over 1,000 pieces of material (paper, cans, bottles, phones, and ink cartridges) or 150 lbs.

Other great happening at Monte Gardens:

• All 5th grade classes (300+ students) have participated in a composting class.
•       The 5^th graders also have a Garden Club. They were very active this fall in the Make a Difference Day where they spent time sprucing up their school. They also built a composting bin.
• Thanks to a letter writing campaign and intense lobbying, they have been chosen by the City of Concord and Mt. Diablo Recycling Co. to pilot the first-ever milk carton recycling program. The recycling co. is building a new plant that will be able to strip the wax off of 1 million+ milk cartons.
• They have had an assembly about recycling presented by the recycling company.
• The recycling club handed out information about joining the RecyCool Club which is sponsored by the CA Dept. of Conservation.
• The 4^th and 5^th grade classes participated in the Jiminy Cricket Disney Environmental Challenge.
• The school district has replaced all Styrofoam lunch trays with biodegradable ones.

Way to go, Monte Gardens!!! We are proud to have you has a GGI school.