Green Steps Schools is an environmental education initiative that encourages individual schools in South Carolina to take annual sustainable steps toward becoming more environmentally responsible.

In the 2010-2011 school year, Saint Joseph School continue the journey begun in 2009, trying to complete these steps toward becoming a greener and better school.

These steps were:

Recycle

• We continued efforts toward recycling of all paper, cardboard, aluminum cans, glass magazines, and plastic at school
• Educate our staff students and parents of the importance of recycling and making it a way of life.
• Our green team of students and teachers sorted and collected recyclables each Wednesday to be put on the curb for the City's recycling program.
• The school administration made sure to purchase milk in plastic containers so that they can be recycled each week.

Composting Lunch Waste

• We purchased an indoor composting container for our school and two larger compost bins for outside.
• We instituted "Wasteless Wednesdays" where children are encouraged to carry wasteless lunches and the fruit/vegetable waste is composted.
• Compost has been used to fertilize a school garden that was created in spring of 2011.

Waste Reduction

• Students and parents are encouraged to pack school lunches in reusable containers, avoiding waste.
• Students are encouraged to bring lunches with reusable containers, especially on "Wasteless Wednesdays." We have been able to reduce the number of rolling trash cans on Wasteless Wednesdays to ONE container for the entire school's lunch program.

Air Quality

• Students helped to root and plant philodendron plants in clean reused yogurt containers.
• These plants were placed in each classroom. The philodendron is reported to absorb impurities in the air and produce cleaner air. The children are taught about the importance of plants to the health of the earth.

Conserve: Reuse

• Teachers are wasting less electricity in the school by instituting energy conservation measures (new cfl light bulbs have been installed in the school).
• Students make art projects in their art classes with Mr. Bramhall, creating treasure from "trash."
• Teachers utilize containers from food products (yogurt, margarine, etc) as pots for plants in the classrooms.

Coming soon! Our plans for 2011-2012:

We hope to work toward two more Green Steps:

• Conserve: Energy
• Restore: Habitat (We are hoping to expand our classroom gardens next year!)

For more information on the Green Steps Program, please see the following link:

http://www.greenstepschools.com/