Part 1 Educational, Environmental

and Economic Benefits

Educational Benefits

Role of schools – teach and demonstrate:▪ The world around them

▪ Earth’s natural resources

▪ Schools are a good platform for change

▪ Students and staff are change agents

▪ Many students are PASSIONATE about doing their part

Educational Benefits

Stewardship – through waste reduction

▪ Local and Global

▪ Hands-on learning

▪ Service Learning

▪ STEM curriculum

Composting is all this and MORE

Hands-on Learning Literally…

Education happens through students’ SENSES, not only by looking at a diagram in a book or on their iPads

Hands-on Learning Trash Audit – separating food by

hand, counting, weighing

▪ Every student separates recycling, food and trash EVERY DAY

▪ Tracking – counting and weighing and seeing results – creating graphs

Service Learning Fulfill Service Learning requirement at school

Student ownership of the program

Pragmatic learning experience about resource management – physical evidence

Separating recycling and food from trash - the NEW NORMAL

Result: “FOOD IS NOT TRASH” - the NEW NORMAL

Impacts of Hands-on and Service Learning lessons and activities to real-world

environmental protection & waste

management

Promoting environmental ethics to

future generations

NEW NORMAL stays with students as

they graduate High School

Parents learning about composting

through their children

Testimonial

"I’m really happy that a lot of what we started is run by the students. They feel that they own it and that’s really important.“

. "A lot of parents tell me that they started composting at home because the kids were doing it at school,"

- Kim Chaloner, 9th grade biology teacher, Grace Church School, Manhattan

Starting the Conversation With Students – classroom connection

Start with the BIG PICTURE

Teach students about the magnitude of the solid waste problem in the U.S. & world

Let’s look at Food Waste

Food is the largest component of MSW in the U.S.

Food waste is the single largest and least recovered waste stream in the U.S.

Total MSW Discards (by material), 2012

251 Million Tons (after recycling and

composting)

Total MSW Recovery (by material), 2012

87 Million Tons

5% food waste recovery rate!

EPA, 2013

Source: US EPA

EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge

Classroom Connection Big picture of solid waste problem

opens door to students and teachers exploring solutions

FIELD TRIPS at all levels !!!

Multiple entry points to integrating lessons from composting programs to the curriculum -Early Childhood programs through High School

Educational Benefits

“The composting process teaches scientific concepts related to how ecosystems function... It’s a hands-on activity that demonstrates the nitrogen cycle, how things biodegrade, and gives students a window into these processes that they typically don’t see other than in an infographic in their textbooks.”

- Christine Robertson, Green School Campaign (NGO)

Composting with worms

What i

What is recycling

What is really trash

Learning how to sort

with practice

Food is not garbage

Early ChildhoodK-2 Elementary

Energy Use

What i

Compost cycle

Conserving Resources

Reduce and Reuse

Magnitude of Food Waste

3-5 ElementaryMiddle School

3-5 Elementary - Middle SchoolRelate practice to lessons in:

Conserving resources & energy

Earth Science, Chemistry, Biology

Compost cycle – how food decomposes

Math

Literature

Food and Farming

What i

Sociology and Psychology

Chemistry Economics

Environmental Science

High School

High School – Gateway to Careers▪ Environmental science

▪ Statistics

▪ Math

▪ Psychology

▪ Economics

▪ Chemistry, Biology and Earth Science

▪ Literature

▪ Cooking class (compost the scraps!) …………………………………………. AND ON AND ON

Environmental Benefits

Only about 5% of what is thrown away in the garbage at schools is actual trash –

Cornell Waste Management Institute

Environmental

Benefits

95% of what schools produce is not really “TRASH”

Recyclables: Paper and CardboardTin or MetalNumbered PlasticGlass

Compostables: Anything that was once alive

Redeemables: School/ green team can make $

Environmental

Benefits

A “Perfect Storm”

Increased

demand

50% by 2030

Energy

WaterIncreased

demand

30% by 2030

FoodIncreased

demand

50% by 2030

Climate

Change

(FAO) (IFPRI)

(IEA)

One-third

of food is

wasted =

1.3 billion

tons per

year

Citations: IEA, FAO, IFPRISlide credit: UK WRAP

Impacts

Our Environment

Food production and waste negatively impacts water quality, soil productivity, and contributes to about 13% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. (EPA)

Food waste is the single largest and

least recovered waste stream in the U.S.

Total MSW Discards (by material), 2012

251 Million Tons (after recycling and

composting)

Total MSW Recovery (by material), 2012

87 Million Tons

5% food waste recovery rate!

EPA, 2013

Ten year old carrot from a landfill

Same carrot in a compost bin would become soil in a few months

Environmental Benefits of Composting: Reduces Greenhouse gasses (methane)

Compost enriches soil: Regenerates poor soils with nutrients, enhances moisture retention

Schools use compost in school gardens, on athletic fields and landscaping

Keeping left over food out of incinerators saves energy

•Impact of composting on Waste-to-Energy incinerators:

Food scraps are mostly water and negatively affect the efficiency of the incinerator

Keeping left over food out of incinerators saves energy

Environmental

Benefits

Case study: New York CityNew law: 2015: NYC ban on sending discarded food to landfills

"We could be taking all of Brooklyn's organics, and rather than paying millions of dollars to send it to landfill, right here in Brooklyn, converting it into clean, renewable energy.” - says Rob Gonen, New York's deputy commissioner for recycling

Case Study: MassachusettsNew law: October, 2015: MA ban on sending discarded food to landfills

Goal: Reduce waste stream by 80% by 2050

the ban will allow more food to make its way into the mouths of the hungry, organizations will save money on waste disposal, there will be fewer landfills and greenhouse gases, and more green energy and green energy jobs — not to mention the fertilizer.

- David Cash - commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection

Economic Benefits

Trash = $$$$$

Economic

Benefits

How much $ can school save?

Depends on:

1. trash hauling fee – some charge by bulk, some by weight, some by frequency

2. compost hauling fee – nationally, tends to be less than trash hauling fee

School Recycling and Composting program outcome:

Increase recycling by 80% - bulk

▪ Increase composting by 100% - weight

Sorting trash has potential to dramatically reduce volume and/or weight of trash going to school dumpster every day

Hauling trash is a School Budget Item- Trash disposal hauling fees can be expensive

Reduce trash in dumpster = fewer/lighter trash pick-ups = cost savings

Economic

Benefits

Portland Area CostsEcomaine charges:

$70.50 tipping fee / per ton of trash

$0 tipping fee for recycling

YOUR COST: depends on your hauler – a negotiated item

Economic

Benefits

Material Hauling FeeByMunicipality(based on weight or frequency)

Hauling FeeByPrivate Hauler(based on weight or frequency)

Tipping Fee/Ton[X Landfill]

Tipping Fee/TonecomaineWaste-to-EnergyFacility

Tipping Fee/Ton ecomaineRecycling Facility

Trash $ $ $ $ 70.50

Recycling $ $ N/A N/A $0.00

Left-overFood

$ $ N/A N/A N/A

How to increase potential cost savings to schools:

The more your school recycles and composts, the fewer trash pickups will be needed.

Savings depends on contract costs of trash, compost and recycling hauling

▪ Example: as program unfolds, re-negotiate trash pickups from 1-5 times per week to much less frequently

▪ Keep track of number of contractor bags used in sorting stations – pricey

▪ Keep separate accounting of waste hauling fees and contractor bags – use saved $ for sustainability programs in school

Cost of Composting

Nationally, compost haulers tend to undercut trash hauling costs

Ex: $12 per cubic yard versus $15 for garbage (Bellingham, Washington State School)

▪ Ex: Eco-Movement (San Francisco) offers restaurants a lower rate for hauling their waste “we want people to be incentivized, not only by the cost savings, but by doing this for the environmental reasons. So we just looked at their overall costs and reduced it by 15 to 20 percent.”

Cost of Composting

Ex: 2008-2009 school year, the district diverted over 800,000 pounds from the waste stream, resulting in a net savings of $53,000. Even with the extra the district spends now that it uses paper products instead of Styrofoam, it still comes out ahead. (Bellingham WA School)

Ex: Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School saved more than $6,000 annually in trash disposal fees, which run about $70 per ton – Utica Observer-dispatch

Comes down to :

Trash pickup cost

Compost hauler cost

Tracking your progress

Economic

Benefits

Saving the Environment

One Cafeteria At a Time

Sort It!

Don’t Trash It