Food Waste to Composting

Our entire DFES community composts all breakfast, lunch, and snack food waste. All milk cartons, paper towels, napkins, any food waste, paper containers and trays are separated from recycling and landfill items. Our food waste is placed in a SMART cart for compost hauling.   We measure the mass of all food waste and include it with our Waste Stream Data compiled each month displayed in the cafeteria. We also set up a centrally located “Share Table”. Students can leave “unopened” food items at this location to be shared with other students who may be hungry. We use metal utensils when possible (spoons and forks were purchased with grant funds) and also “Tap and Stack” styrofoam trays when they are being used. At the beginning of the year, cafeteria waste stream trainings were given by Mr. Epting (Building Supervisor) and Mrs. Umberger (Magnet Theme Coordinator) to every class.  Mrs. Umberger also offered classroom composting lessons to new teachers, classes that had a good number of new students, and by teacher request. This included students sorting and classifying items that can be composted. 

How Students will Teach Others: Landfill bucket helpers completed a training at the beginning of the school year by Mrs. Umberger. Students were then expected to lead their classrooms in the composting efforts in their own classrooms & the cafeteria. (Landfill Bucket Helpers). In May we have a plan to make a video using 3rd grade students for use at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year.