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 PICTURETeach 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), 2012251 Million Tons (after recycling and composting)
Total MSW Recovery (by material), 201287 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
Water Increased 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), 2012251 Million Tons (after recycling and composting)
Total MSW Recovery (by material), 201287 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 ecomaine Recycling 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