"We've been working towards this for the past two years, and it felt great to achieve our goals," said Ed Novak, resource conservation manager for the Federal Way school district.

Novak was referring to the King County "Green Schools" award recently given to the district for outstanding efforts in recycling and decreasing energy use.

"We saved over $75,000 alone last year in energy costs, and with the new school year underway, we're gearing up to reduce use even more," said Novak.

The district lowered its energy consumption by changing to high efficiency light bulbs and installing programmable thermostats in portable classrooms.

Novak, a retired school principal, works as an independent contractor for the district and directs the recycling efforts of each of the 36 Federal Way public schools. In the position for over ten years, Novak said that making many small changes added up to big savings.

"For example, making photocopies on both sides. We instruct, encourage and now expect that teachers and students will always use both sides of the paper," said Novak.

King County's Green Schools program has encouraged districts to actively conserve natural resources and cut energy consumption since 2002.