Niwot High is even more green

Niwot's silver and green take on new meaning as the school has been recognized by the Youth Sustainability Board as a Green Star School. The program is part of a collaboration between Eco-Cycle and schools within Boulder County. Certification is recognized when schools are able to reduce up to two-thirds of their waste.

"For the students, this [certification] means that sustainability and commitment to the environment have become more top-of-mind as we try to waste less," said senior member of the Environmental Club (EC) Mercer Stauch.

Much of the certification process involved education–both in terms of educating themselves so that the EC members knew where to focus their efforts and in helping their peers understand the importance of sustainability. This was accomplished, in part by conducting a waste audit.

The audit was a "tour of trash." Students within the EC took bags of trash and recycling and examined each in the effort to determine what misconceptions about sorting existed in the student body. "This process allowed the club to learn more about what will be most beneficial and efficient when educating the school on waste management," Steph Mow, a junior and member of the EC leadership group, said.

Mow said that the EC was pleasantly surprised that items found in the bag were generally sorted properly, given that the EC was ready to start putting together educational materials for "waste-training."

Some of this training involved creating and sharing videos about trash, recycling and compost, as well as having "waste goalies" present at lunch in order to help direct students to dispose of waste in the proper receptacles. Staunch said, "Our Eco-Cycle mentors also taught us about how to dispose of waste items specific to our school, like the hot lunch paper boats, or the tin foil deli containers from the Niwot Market, where lots of students go to lunch."

Through the efforts of the EC, recycling has increased and composting bins have been introduced. They've also established a food sharing station. Josh Ludski-Lee, a junior and fellow leadership group member, explained it as a "take one, leave one" system where students can essentially trade food if there's something they don't need or want.

"While we weren't able to make all the changes we wanted to, like getting compost bins in our bathrooms, the administration helped us work through any issues and explained why we couldn't do some of the things we wanted to," said Ludski-Lee.

Niwot's EC is excited at the change they've seen so far and are hopeful that it will continue to improve. They recognized that changing habits can be difficult, but with small incremental changes, see that the student body has already become more environmentally minded.

Some of this environmental mindset does likely come from the fact that NHS is part of the state-wide Youth Sustainability Board, which is a state-wide, student-run, non-profit that supports environmentally focused clubs in Colorado. When NHS's club officially became part of the organization, it was granted $2,000 for an outdoor classroom. This grant was used to plant vegetation, commission a mural, and lay gravel for the classroom itself.

The science behind sustainability is constantly developing, as are efforts like those seen at NHS. To stay up-to-date with Niwot's EC, or the statewide Youth Sustainability Board, they can be found online:

NHS Environmental Club (Instagram): @gogreenniwot

Youth Sustainability Board (website & Instagram: https://www.youthsustainabilityboard.org/ and @youthsustainabilityboard