A group of middle school students are working to make sustainability a priority on their campus. In some cases, one paper towel at a time.
The Maywood Middle School Green Team — an after-school club founded last school year and modeled on a blueprint from Liberty High School’s sustainability ambassador program — recently gave the Issaquah School Board a presentation on how to dry hands with a single paper towel.
The method? Shake and fold.
The team learned, from a 2012 TED Talk former Oregon Democratic Party Chair Joe Smith gave, that one paper towel can do the job of four or five if the user vigorously shakes the water from their hands into a sink and folds their single towel in half. The folded towel dries with greater efficiency thanks to interstitial suspension — meaning, essentially, the water is absorbed through multiple layers of material.
After playing the video and explaining how they pitched the concept to their classmates, the team called up Superintendent Ron Thiele to demonstrate the technique.
Thiele dipped his hands in a wash basin, gingerly shook his hands 12 times and wiped them off with his folded towel.
“Well,” he said. “They’re pretty dry.”
The Green Team’s shake-and-fold campaign was a project they rolled out for Earth Week in April. The drying method was promoted via lunch period demonstrations and posters in all campus bathrooms — the leading favorite being a “Be like Taylor Swift and Shake It Off” sign replete with a paper cutout of the pop singer.
In its second year, the club has since grown to a membership fluctuating between 15 and 18 students with a “core” membership that’s highly dedicated and enthusiastic, faculty adviser Jane Watkins said.
“After-school clubs can really be a place for students to shine who might not otherwise, like in sports or the classroom,” she said.
This year’s on-campus initiative has been “Waste-free Wednesdays,” an effort to reduce the amount of trash produced from lunch period. The team will weigh the trash over the course of the year to track the school’s progress.
But what the students really want is for their efforts to reach beyond Maywood, Watkins said.
The Green Team is willing to give their shake-and-fold presentation to local employers to reduce paper waste at workplaces.
Interested employers can contact Watkins at watkinsj@issaquah.wednet.edu or 425-837-6991.
