Composting Program
Students generate approximately 2+lbs each of compostable waste every school day
60-85% of cafeteria waste can be recycled or composted
Decomposition of compostable material in landfills is a contributing factor in the methane production that causes climate change.
The 3-Part System
Compost
- For all food products, could divert up to 60-80% of the cafeteria waste.
Recycle
- Currently no means for recycling in the cafeteria, adding recycling would divert another 10% of plastic waste. recycleable items include all plastic bottles,containers, utensils styrofoam, aluminum foil and cans, glass.
Landfill
- This would be a ¨last resort” for waste that could not be disposed of in the other bins. Straws, plastic wrappers, and dirty recycleables
Composting Program
A group of environmentally conscious students partnered with Wahconah Regional High School's environmental organization, Green Umbrella, to pioneer one of Berkshire County's first composting programs in the school cafeteria. The program, which began in mid-January, uses two, three-part waste disposal units as a way to divert plastic and food waste from landfills. This process has taken place over the last two years but really began to pick up steam in June of 2018 when a group of students took the reigns and hit the ground running in this fall. The composting program grew out of student interest and initiative which has been a key component in it’s success. The group would like to get student involvement in creating social awareness for the waste problem in schools.
NEW UPDATES!
- Check out the recent news article about our new composting program in the Berkshire Eagle here
- Be on the lookout for composting facts posted around the school!
- Green Umbrella members will be coming into all science classrooms the week of Dec 17th to the 21st to explain the importance of source separation and what it will look like at Wahconah.
- Source Separation up and running! thank you to all of the students, staff, and administration who made this possible. The Green Umbrella thanks students in advance for their support and cooperation.
PLEASE READ: The Composting Team is looking for people interested in helping with outreach and advocacy for the composting program in its initial weeks. If this is something you would be interested in helping with please contact us below!
Our Trash is a Problem, and Here's Why
According to CLF, most people are unaware that we have a serious – but preventable – solid waste problem here in New England and across the country. In 2015 in Massachusetts alone, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection, all of us living and working in the Commonwealth produced nearly 5.5 million tons of municipal solid waste. We burned about 3.25 million tons of that waste in incinerators and buried 880,000 tons in landfills across the Commonwealth. Massachusetts exported the remaining 1.38 million tons to other states to burn and bury.
(The Commonwealth also imported and buried an additional 500,000 tons of waste in our landfills, but the 5.5 million figure above does not include this.)
To understand the risks to our health and environment of burying and burning 5.5 million tons of trash every year, consider the following:
- Our waste is toxic
- Every landfill will leak eventually
- Burning produces toxic air pollution
- All those contaminants are linked to cancer and more
- Recycling programs would help, but access is limited
