Nominations sought for King County’s Earth Heroes at School awards program

King County is seeking nominations for the Earth Heroes at School program that recognizes students, teachers, staff, school volunteers, programs and even entire schools that are doing the important work of protecting the environment and teaching others to do the same.

Nominations for the 2018 Earth Heroes at School are due March 1, and winners will be honored at an event this spring. Earth Heroes can be nominated by colleagues, classmates and the public. Self-nominations are also encouraged.

Nomination forms are available online at kingcounty.gov/earth-heroes.

Nominations can be made in any of the following categories:

• Waste reduction, reuse, or recycling;

• Food waste prevention or food waste collection for composting;

• Household hazardous waste prevention or management;

• Sustainable gardening, landscaping, or building; and

• Climate change education or greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

The Earth Heroes at School program allows King County to express its gratitude for the contributions environmental leaders in our schools make toward a more sustainable future locally and beyond.

By acknowledging their work, the county hopes to inspire others to adopt similar actions to protect the environment.

The program is offered through the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, and awards are given every other year.

Earth Heroes at School honorees in 2017 included:

• Katherine Stewart, a teacher at Montessori Children’s House in Redmond, who leads more than 50 students through the school garden, helping them apply their classroom lessons on plants, food and the environment. She also leads cooking classes, demonstrating the seed to table journey using the harvest from the garden.