Krueger Middle School recently implemented a compost and recycling program in the school cafeteria that is significantly reducing the amount of waste headed to landfills.
The program, spearheaded by Environmental Science teacher Daisy Lee, began on April 30. It involves two stations manned by student volunteers who assist other students in disposing of the items on their trays an eco-friendly manner at one of five stations: #1 - Share Table, #2 - Compost, #3 - Recycling, #4 - Garbage, and #5 - Trays.
Sodexo custodial staff assist with setup each day for the stations.
“Before this program, the kids were producing up to twelve bags of garbage in the cafeteria each day during lunch,” says Lee. “Now, we're down to just two bags a day.”
Food scraps are collected in small buckets, which are composted in an area behind the school by 7th grade students. Krueger, which is an environmental science themed middle school, uses the compost as fertilizer and mulch for plantings on school property.
Michigan City Area Schools Food Service staff take food left on the “share” table to area homeless shelters. “On a typical day, we may have 50 or 60 bags of sliced apples and 20 bananas, along with milk, string cheese, and apple sauce to give to the shelter,” says Lee. “All of this was being thrown in the garbage before.”
Other immediate benefits the student volunteers have cataloged:
- In the first two weeks of the program alone, students saved 481 pounds of food from going into the landfill due to compost (not including the share table).
- In the first two weeks of the program, students saved 180 pounds of recycling from going into the landfill.
- Exactly 0 plastic lunch trays have been accidentally thrown away.
- The school will use 30-40 fewer plastic trash bags each week in the cafeteria thanks to the program.
Krueger also partners with Quality Beet (717 Franklin Street, Michigan City), which has been donating their food scraps to the school to compost for about a year. “We are dedicated to being a low-waste and sustainable business, and compost is one component of that,” says Quality Beet owner Tim Bauer. “Food waste is a big issue in this country -- whether it’s from stores, individuals, or distributors. This is a way to reuse something that we’d normally send to a landfill.”