WKRN, Nashville, Tennessee News, Weather, and Sports |Wilson Co. school earns award for 'going green'

Wilson Co. school earns award for 'going green'

LEBANON, Tenn. - The sign outside Southside Elementary and Middle School is Wilson County may be red and white, but there's a green flag waving on the flagpole.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation on Friday awarded Southside with the green flag, signifying its status as a member of the Tennessee Pollution Prevention Partnership.

It's the fourth school in the state to receive the designation.

For seven months, students and teachers recycled cell phones, printer ink cartridges, paper, and plastic.

They started printing on two sides of the paper, made parents and bus drivers promise not to idle their vehicles in the school pick-up line, turned off lights and computers when they left the classrooms, and established five outdoor classrooms.
 
In the process, the school saved 5,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, 400,000 pounds of greenhouse gases, kept hazardous materials from being dumped in the landfill and saved 60,000 sheets of paper.

It all started when five teachers, dubbed the "green girls", attended a statewide symposium.  They brought the idea back to Southside.

Next year, that same symposium will be held at their school.