Composting at St. George School
Food waste is a major issue in this country, in fact, research has shown that Americans waste an average of 60 million tons of food per year. Phoebe discovered this problem on more of a local scale when she noticed a large amount of food being thrown away into regular trash cans at St. George School.
Phoebe is a Juliette from the Knox Service Unit, and with the Bronze Award on her radar, she felt that creating a composting system would be the perfect opportunity to come up with a sustainable solution to her school’s problem.
“First, I talked with cafeteria staff about putting compost buckets in the school, then I went to the Transfer Station and learned the process of making compost,” says Phoebe.
After noticing that breakfast seemed to be the meal deriving the most food waste, Phoebe set her focus there, helping classmates understand how to properly dispose of their food without having to feel wasteful or guilty! Since not all food can be safely composted, Phoebe also had to take measures to inform every one of the do’s and don’ts.
“I also made flyers that tell you what can and can’t be composted,” says Phoebe.
Phoebe’s next goal is to take her composting system into the lunchroom, with hopes to save even more food from heading straight to a land fill.
“The impact of this project is less food going into landfills and more food being composted and turned into rich soil. Students also learn the importance of composting,” says Phoebe.
