Coalition Member Updates

Darien

Darien Elementary Schools, working with their Green Teams at each school, are all working on different stages of implementing and/or increasing recycling in their schools as well as incorporating their town-wide Skip the Straw campaign to students.

New Canaan

South Elementary School moved from recycling only water bottles in the cafeteria to recycling all single stream eligible items. They’ve signed up for the TREX Challenge and recycle all applicable plastic film. They also applied for and received a grant from RecycleCT to build a recycling center prototype for easier disposal of trash and recyclables in the cafeteria.

Mamaroneck, NY

The Mamaroneck School District in New York has been pursuing Zero Waste vigorously since the start of the 2018-2019 school year. A second elementary school will be starting food waste recycling in March 2019, and it is expected that food waste recycling will also eventually be phased in at the other two, remaining elementary schools. Taryn Delaney, a teacher in Family & Consumer Science at Hommocks Middle School, was designated as the school’s sustainability coordinator to oversee the middle school's food waste recycling efforts. PTA sustainability committees have been formed at respective schools starting food waste recycling, and the school district has initiated discussions on a district-wide sustainability committee to coordinate efforts.

Norwalk

The PTA sponsored Green Team at Rowayton Elementary School is acting locally and thinking globally by taking measurable steps to reduce waste at the school. A member of the Zero Waste Schools Coalition, the Rowayton School Green Team consists of parent volunteers, a teacher liaison, students and support from the school’s administration team. The school’s PTA now makes a conscious effort to cut back on plastic waste, reusing and recycling where appropriate, at all school-sponsored events.

The Rowayton School Green Team supports the mission of sustainability, education and awareness through Earth Day Art projects, National Walk and Bike to School days and implementing all-school assemblies. All of these efforts are culminating in the group’s most exciting news - that their cafeteria will begin Composting food waste on April 1, 2019!

A recipient of the RecycleCT Foundation grant in 2017, the Green Team is using the $1,500 award and the support of the NPS School District to aid in the following efforts:

a) Replaced styrofoam single use lunch trays and plastic “sporks” with hard plastic reusable trays and stainless steel forks and spoons

b) Installed a dishwasher in the cafeteria kitchen to clean and sterilize the new, reusable trays and cutlery, setting a model for the entire district.

c) Recently removed all plastic straws from the school, supporting our local Skip the Straw/Skip the Plastic Norwalk team. Paper straws are made available for younger grades’ lunch shifts.

d) Updated and improved recycling protocols and signage at the school, making sure each classroom and shared area now has a blue box. Adopted Norwalk’s What's in and What's out list.

e) Emphasized reusing vs. single-use party supplies. The Green Team offers two sustainable party boxes that can be 'checked out' for classroom parties that include: water pitchers, silverware, plates, serving utensils, paper straws, napkins, recyclable cups and tablecloths cutting back on single-use plastic waste.

To learn more about the Rowayton Elementary School Green Team, please visit: rowaytonpta.org/greenteam. Also check out their new Instagram page

Rye, NY

Rye Country Day School, a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School, has been working to reduce waste on campus for several years through its single-stream recycling program and zero waste dining hall. At lunch each day, items are either composted, such as food waste and napkins, or washed and reused, such as cups, plates, and silverware. RCDS has eliminated single-use products including cracker wrappers and butter packets from lunch in exchange for more sustainable alternatives. Students are actively engaged in the sorting process and lead regular food waste audits; food waste from each lunch period is weighed and posted daily on a screen in the cafeteria. These concepts are also integrated throughout the curriculum. Students in each division have the opportunity to learn more about composting by using one of the campus compost bins and growing food in the campus gardens to be used in the dining hall. Students participate in various recycling programs on campus for items that can be difficult to recycle, such as batteries, used markers, lab gloves from science class, and snack bags.

For more information, contact Kerry Hand Linderoth, Director of Sustainability, at kerry_linderoth@ryecountryday.org (RCDS is a PreK-12 independent day school in Rye, NY)

Westport

Greens Farms Elementary School in Westport is proud to say that it has launched a composting program based on a visit to Miller-Driscoll back 2018. Westport is joining the Zero Waste schools coalition starting with Greens Farms and closely followed by Saugatuck Elementary School. Greens Farms has completed in-house food waste benchmarking and with assistance from a Westport Public Schools Innovation Grant is implementing a pilot pick-up and composting program this spring.

The intention of these programs is to demonstrate the value of decreasing food waste by choosing wisely, removing what is left from the solid waste stream, and composting it. This follows Westport’s goal of reducing waste to a minimum, reusing what we can, recycling the rest and sending zero waste to landfills. It will also have economic benefits to the town with decreased garbage to haul to the incinerator.

UPDATE:

Staples High School has engaged their student body and created their Zero Waste Committee. Students have been actively promoting their source separation program, including food scraps, to their fellow students through social media, posters, video, presentations and more. Check out their webpage.

All 8 Westport Public Schools have been approved for food scrap collection and pick up for the 2021-2022 school year!

Weston

Weston Public Schools has created a District-Wide Sustainability Committee in 2021 to work on various initiatives within their school system including incorporating food scrap collection.