Students, Green Bellevue ask council to expand composting as city proclaims Earth Day and Arbor Day

Mayor Rusty Hite proclaimed April 13, 2025, as Earth Day in Bellevue and April 25, 2025, as Arbor Day, and invited students and members of Green Bellevue to speak about local sustainability efforts.

At the council meeting, Bellevue West High School students and Green Bellevue leaders described school-run composting programs they said have diverted significant food waste and asked the council to consider expanding composting citywide. "Renewable energy plays a critical role...but the power comes from the people," Bellevue West senior Adelina (Lena) Foss said, urging residents to support local sustainability work.

Arsh Patel, a Bellevue West senior, said the school’s student-led composting program diverts more than 10 tons of food waste a year at West alone and asked that the city consider a comprehensive composting pickup program for residents. Representatives of Green Bellevue and the nonprofit Green Initiative described additional actions—pollinator gardens, community gardens, invasive species removal and tree planting—that they said complement the schools’ work.

Lisa Jasco, speaking with Green Bellevue, presented week-one measurements from a school compost pilot: 520.3 pounds in the landfill stream, 315.9 pounds in the compost stream and 24.9 pounds recycled, plus a 175.5-pound "share bin" total; she said the first-week diversion totaled 516.3 pounds out of 1,036.6 pounds of measured waste. The speakers described ongoing student commitment to the programs and invited residents to Earth Day in Bellevue on April 13 from 12 to 4 p.m. at Bellevue University; Green Bellevue is listed as a host on greenbellevue.org.

Students and volunteers thanked the council for prior support and asked for further city leadership to expand successful school programs to more residents. Mayor Hite and council members posed with the student group for a photograph following the remarks.

The proclamations were read into the record by staff; the Earth Day proclamation highlights the 2025 theme "Our Power, Our Planet" and notes Bellevue’s Green Bellevue group and past local environmental initiatives. The Arbor Day proclamation cites Bellevue’s Tree City USA recognition and urges citizens to plant and protect trees.

No council action to mandate citywide composting was taken at the meeting; speakers’ requests were entered during the public-comment portion of the meeting and will remain part of the public record.