Our local school started participating in the Go Green Initiative. One part of the program is composting, and our district decided to implement it throughout all grade levels.
–Aidan, Age 9
Cayuga Compost happens to be located just a few minutes away from the school in our small town in upstate New York. Co-owners Jim and Mary Proctor have 4 children in the Trumansburg School district. They’ve worked hard to get regional businesses and schools to compost: all of the Ithaca City Schools, Dryden School, Lansing Middle School, Trumansburg Schools, Ithaca College, TC3, Hobart William Smith College, area resturants, businesses and area bed and breakfasts send their compost to Cayuga Compost.
Mary helped the Elementary school start composting as a parent volunteer who “just happened to own a compost company.” For the first weeks of the composting effort, Mary Proctor worked with the elementary school’s head custodian, Molly Covert, to educate the students about composting. Each morning, the school’s announcements included information about the composting program. Parents volunteered during meal periods to assist the children while they were learning the routine. At first, there were very long lines and some teary faces while the kids were learning where to put each type of waste, but two months into the program the kids really got the hang of it.
Teachers and students at the school have expanded their composting efforts to include holiday parties. The Parent Teacher Organization purchased compostable bags for the 21 elementary school classrooms. Teachers request that parents bring in compost-able paper products, and that juice, milk and water are brought in recyclable containers. At the most recent Halloween party, every class composted, diverting approximately 500 pounds (21 bags) of waste material from the landfill. The weight is low since most of the party waste comes from paper products. Uneaten food typically goes home with parents.
By the Numbers
The table below shows the result of the district’s efforts in the first six months of 2009. It’s contains an amazing total: in 6 months, almost 30 tons of landfill-destined waste was diverted to a local composting program that benefits local horticulture, agriculture, and erosion control, among other uses.
| School | January – March | April – June |
|---|---|---|
| Elementary School (pounds of compost) | 12,130 | 15,985 |
| Middle School (pounds of compost) | 7,595 | 8,326 |
| High School (pounds of compost) | 5,665 | 10,114 |
| Totals (pounds) | 25,390 (12.7 tons) | 34,425 (17.21 tons) |
Getting Started in Your School
Are you interested in getting a composting program started in your school? Check out some of these resources for more information:
- Wikipedia: Uses of Compost
- Planet Green: How to Start a Composting Program at Your Kids’ School
- The NYC Compost Project
- eHow: How to Start a School Compost Program
- Cornell University: Composting in Schools
- Composting for Kids
- EPA: Regional and State Composting Programs
In Pictures
Here are some pictures of our Trumansburg’s composting program in action:
Kelly gets ready to compost. Notice the guides on the wall that help students know what items go where…
Elizabeth enjoys doing her part for the environment.
Xander has fun composting, and enjoys doing it at home, too!
Tags: compost, recycle, school
More about Amy and Scott Dawson, creators of Lunchtaker.com: One of our core focuses is on nutrition and fitness. Our children both attended a parent cooperative pre-school where the morning snack was as healthy as possible, and our family liked the opportunities for new foods that arose in pre-school. As our children go through grade school, we are focusing on continuing the trend of ensuring we feed ourselves a variety of foods, all good for our bodies... read more...
Posted Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 9:53 pm and filed under Environmental. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
[...] to handle and is good for the soil.” The impact from just one school can be impressive. One upstate New York school that initiated a similar school composting program, found that in just 6 months almost 30 tons of [...]
great article, amy. really informative and love the links at the bottom for parents who want to start a composting program in their schools.