The winning idea came from Local 925 member Matt Edgerton, a Marysville School District Custodian.  Matt received a $5,000 cash award, and a $20,000 grant was awarded to the Marysville School District to help turn Matt’s idea, “The Green Team,” into a reality.

The Green Team
Matt’s plan was the strategic formulation of an SEIU member-led team of students, teachers, managers, parents, and a building principal, charged with replacing the 100,000+ styrofoam trays  thrown away annually from the cafeteria's breakfast and lunch programs at the middle school where he works.

The program got off the ground last fall; updates from Edgerton indicate that the program is both successful and popular.

The projected annual savings based on the current capture rate are:
• 90% reduction of cafeteria-related waste sent to the landfill
• 50% reduction of building-wide waste sent to the landfill
• 24 tons of greenhouse gases reduced (the equivalent of taking six cars off of the road)
• 25 tons of waste composted
• 80 tons of waste diverted from landfills
• $5,000 savings to the District’s utility bill
 
These saving are so impressive that the District plans to expand the program this fall and roll it out to other schools.
 
Edgerton reports:  "This has truly been a success, mainly because the building staff is functioning as a team, though students are what impress me the most.  The initial reaction from many observers when we started this project was a skepticism that middle school students would voluntarily take the initiative to separate their lunch waste into three separate refuse containers (garbage, combined recyclables, and compostables), but I remained confident that the students would be up to the challenge. Not only were the students up to the challenge, they exceeded my expectations and took on a great sense of ownership and pride in the program. My favorite story example of this is when our middle school hosted a District-wide dance. During the dance, in the cafeteria where refreshments were being served, our students were separating their trash like they do during the school day. One of the visiting students observed this and asked why they were putting their garbage into different cans, to which one of our students put her nose into the air and replied "Oh, we compost here," with pride (and an inflection of superiority) in her voice.
 
"This project has truly redefined the role our union plays in our community. I love to explain what we are doing to interested community members and tell them that we are able to do this because my labor union sponsored the idea with a grant. I always am given a smile and a comment along the lines of, "SEIU, huh?  I didn't know unions did stuff like that." This always leaves me with a great sense of pride that I am a member of a union that places a value on quality public services, which I believe is necessary for unions to be successful and have an impact on modern society."