Make Hay While the Sun Shines

Monday, June 29, 2009

When school lets out everyone sighs a collective breath, and as a teacher I can relate to the feeling of relief that arrives when the end-of-year frenzy gives way to slower summer days.

Summer, while a time of rest and relaxation, is also a time of planning for every school community: refreshing the classroom curriculum and budgeting for the fiscal year.

Summer is a great time to think about ways to green your school for the upcoming year, and to prepare a budget—whether for your classroom or school—that allows for sustainable consumer choices, environmental curriculum development, and environmental upgrades.

Below, Greenfox offers a few suggestions to get started this summer for those of you in the education field:

Administrators

o    Budget for areas of environmental improvement in any or all of the Greenfox5 areas:

Greenfox5
-Energy
-Waste Disposal
-Food
-Products
-Greenspace

o    Create a sustainability pledge based on the Greenfox5 that your school community signs together (this pledge can be voluntary or required)

Teachers

o    Add an environmental piece to your curriculum, or develop an existing one. Environmental teaching can be woven into nearly any subject, including science, math, social studies, and language arts.

o    Create a classroom “green team” that will be responsible for environmental endeavors in the classroom, such as turning off lights when the class leaves the room, collecting food at meal time for the composter, collecting recyclables at the end of the day, etc.

o    When buying classroom supplies, budget for eco-products, such as recycled content lined paper, folders, journals, and pencils.

o    Brainstorm an environmental community-service effort with your class such as collecting recyclables to raise money for tree planting, collecting and recycling cartridges to raise money for your school, or working with your neighborhood to pick up litter.

o    Work together with other faculty or parents to implement recycling programs, composting systems, and environmental programs.

Parents

o    Ask your child’s teacher how you can be of assistance with any green or environmental initiatives in the classroom.

o    Work together with faculty and administration to implement recycling programs, composting systems, and environmental programs, or to create a “Green Committee” at your child’s school.

o    When buying school supplies for your child, budget for eco-products, such as re-usable lunchboxes and sandwich wrappers, recycled content lined paper, folders, journals, and pencils.

o    Set up a clean-air carpool or bike group that will commute to school in the fall.

Students

o    Have fun and enjoy nature! The first way to help the environment is to care about it. Have a wonderful summer!

-Kristen von Hoffmann

Greenfox Kids Magazine Subscription

Friday, May 15, 2009

Subscribe to the Fall 2009 issue of “Greenfox Kids! Magazine!”

Greenfox Kids! Magazine is a teaching resource on environmental sustainability for grades 4-8, and includes articles, lessons, and games for classrooms and libraries.

For questions, please e-mail Kristen von Hoffmann at kvh@greenfoxschools.com.

Fear and Optimism about the Environment

Monday, April 27, 2009

I was at a recent meeting for an environmental organization where someone brought up the term “state of emergency” to describe global warming. The organization talked about the possibility of declaring a “state of emergency” in order to get something done about energy use in their city. Some people stood behind it, while others felt it was too drastic.

At the time, I listened and didn’t state my opinion, and I enjoyed learning about people’s different perspectives on the issue. I do not know whether or not the term would be appropriate for purposes of public interest and public policy, but I would agree that our planet is in an environmental state of emergency.

For some, it can be easy not to recognize the extent to which our environment is in danger unless one has personal ties to drastic situations. For example, cancer clusters possibly caused by chemical Superfund sites, slash-and-burn deforestation, or the breaking off of an iceberg. The examples I’ve cited seem so extreme that it can be difficult to connect them to our lives. And yet, Superfund chemical sites occur in our own hometowns, and people drive cars emitting carbon dioxide daily.

The type of environmental degradation occurring today as a result of a century’s worth of degradation is generally insidious rather than explicit, so I can further understand why people would hesitate to use a term as alarming as “state of emergency.”

But what if we were to look closer to home? What if we were to look, simply, at the rate at which land is being developed in our own towns?

Take a moment to notice how many “land for sale” signs you see on the side of the highway the next time you are driving. What is your reaction?

Unless we pay attention, our daily routines do not necessarily cue us into the harm that is taking place. It might be true that for people who recognize the level of degradation, every day is a conscious “tuning in” to what is happening to the environment.

The complexity and depth to which the environment is intertwined in our lives can feel intimidating, and as a result it may be hard to conceptualize the idea of positive change. One thing we aim for in teaching the Greenfox5 is creating order out of chaos, and providing a roadmap for change.

Related to K-12 education in particular, it is important that the facts of environmental degradation are presented thoughtfully to children, with attention to the appropriate age-level, and again, with an emphasis on making a positive connection to the environment.

What I’d like to propose is developing an awareness about the environment rooted in personal connection and optimism. With a personal connection, empathy develops, and a willingness to change that was not there before.

I propose identifying what is important to you personally (for example, it might be the people you care about) and identifying those things born out of the environment that you like (for example, food).

How do we become aware of these things? By making a point to slow down once a day or once a week, and become mindful. Out of such mindfulness we develop a sense of connection.

Maybe it will take the implementation of the term “state of emergency” to get the ball rolling in some places. Maybe it will be a long time before such is declared. The answer to changing our daily behaviors is not through fear alone, but through feeling connected.

-Kristen von Hoffmann

Teaching the Greenfox5: Spotlight on Greenspace

Monday, March 23, 2009

Greenfox News

o Greenfox Kids! Magazine debuts next month, April 2009. Our magazine provides articles on sustainability using the Greenfox5 as a teaching tool, in addition to games and lesson plans. The magazine is paid for by our sponsors, and is free for schools.

o If you are interested in receiving issues for your class, or sponsoring an ad in the magazine, please e-mail kvh@greenfoxschools.com.

o Greenfox welcomes Patrick Morris, our new intern, to the Greenfox Team. Patrick can be reached at pjm@greenfoxschools.com.

o Greenfox Schools will be giving a presentation at the Cambridge Montessori School on the Greenfox5 and its application to sustainability systems and teaching in schools. The workshop is at 7 PM on Wednesday, April 29th. If your school is interested in a workshop, please contact us.

o Check out an article in the New York Times, “Offering the Best Supplies for Learning: Free,” by Amy Mayer, 3/14/09, featuring ExCL (Extras for Creative Learning) a non-profit for which Kristen von Hoffmann is on the Board of Directors. ExCL is a great resource for teachers, and the organization collects excess materials from businesses and redistributes them to schools for classroom projects, diverting waste from landfills and promoting creativity for children.

o Greenfox Schools also encourages you to check out the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development. The Partnership convenes mainstream business leaders, educators, and policy makers, providing information on sustainability education for schools across the nation.

Teaching the Greenfox5: Spotlight on Greenspace

Background on Greenspace

The Greenfox5 is a strategy that Greenfox Schools uses to teach and implement sustainability. The Greenfox5 names five categories of environmental optimization: Energy, Waste Disposal, Food, Products, and Greenspace.

Our logo depicts five circles of color, each representing a category of the Greenfox5.

Today’s article focuses on how to teach Greenspace. As educators, when thinking about Greenspace, imagine the physical space at your school, whether rural or urban, and where green space (forest, gardens, fields, natural habitats, trees) fits in. Then, consider how green space at your school can be optimized, as well as integrated into your curriculum.

Pine Forests in Beverly, Massachusetts

Teachers: Diving Into Greenspace

➢ Talking Points for Class Discussion/Greenspace at Your School

• On the board, have students list all of the green space areas at your school

• In what ways do students enjoy this space?

• What is the quality of these green spaces?

• Are they well maintained?

• Are they in the care of the school or under different ownership?

• Is this green space a forest, a garden, a field, a natural habitat, or trees?

• In what ways can it be protected? Studied? Added to?

• Can this space be integrated into existing science, art, social studies or other curriculum in your class?

• If your school is entirely urban, how can green space be created within your building? classroom?

• Are there health benefits of green space?

Here are three examples of class projects that can affect green space locally, nationally, and globally.

1. Local: Last year Greenfox implemented a program for 5th graders. Students gathered local tree seeds from home, learned how to identify each tree, placed the seeds in a refrigerator for several weeks, and grew the seedlings at school in a sustainable process.

5th grade students carefully sort their tree seeds

Students plant tree seeds in old pizza boxes

Students used old pizza boxes that they filled with compost and dirt. They set up a rainwater collection barrel, which they used to water the seedlings via recycled plastic soda bottles that they popped holes in to make “watering cans.” Throughout the study the children also learned about photosynthesis and the biology behind tree-growing. Students enjoyed coming into their classroom every morning to check on their seedlings’ growth, and nurtured and watered them. At the end of the study each child took their tree home and planted it.

2. National: Greenfox has helped raise money for planting trees in forests through bottle-and-can recycling drives. For a list of plant-a-tree organizations, see links below.

3. Global: Greenfox recommends raising money to plant trees in the rainforest via the Cloud Forest School in Monte Verde, Costa Rica.

Greenfox set up an exchange program where a U.S. school raised money through a bottle-and-can recycling drive to pay for the planting of 25 new tree seedlings in Costa Rica at the Cloud Forest School

Greenspace Links

Natural Habitats
American Forests
Arbor Day Foundation
Cloud Forest School
Massachusetts Audobon Society
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
The Nature Conservancy
Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC)
Sierra Club

-Kristen von Hoffmann

A Closer Look at Public Transportation

Monday, February 23, 2009

Greenfox News

• Read an interview with Kristen von Hoffmann as she discusses Greenfox Schools for Ecopreneurist in Reenita Malhotra’s article, “Greenfox Schools: Greening the Obama Generation.”
  

• Greenfox Kids! Magazine is debuting in April. The magazine provides articles on sustainability for grades 3-7 using the Greenfox5 as a teaching tool. It provides games and lesson plans for teachers and parents. The magazine is paid for by sponsors, and is free for schools.

• If you are interested in receiving issues for your class, or sponsoring an ad in the magazine, please e-mail kvh@greenfoxschools.com

• Greenfox is recruiting interns for the spring and summer. Interships are part-time, unpaid. If you or someone you know is interested in applying, please e-mail cs@greenfoxschools.com. Note: interns do not need to be based in the Boston area.

• Greenfox recently had the opportunity to try Eco-Canteens: safe, eco-friendly, and reusable stainless steel water bottles. They are excellent for both children and adults, and can easily be taken to school. Check them out here.

A Closer Look at Public Transportation
Good for the Environment, Good for the Soul

As president of a green company, I advocate for the use of public and alternative transportation as a means of reducing our carbon footprint, and encourage schools to do the same. Choosing sustainable travel greatly impacts both the Energy and Greenspace categories of the Greenfox5.

But, in a more personal way, I can also advocate for public transportation because it has always had special meaning for me.

I think that in choosing public transportation we might also consider what our experience riding the train, subway, or bus means to us.

By making that connection, we may realize that there is a positive aspect to riding the bus, say, because we actually like it.

Kristen von Hoffmann in the classroom

Every once in awhile my mom would let me miss school to come to work with her.

As a four-year-old, I remember taking the train with her from Montclair, New Jersey, into Penn Station, New York; a ride that took about 25 minutes and made several stops along the way.

At the time I had a purple lunchbox with rainbow hearts on it, and I’d pack this lunchbox with things like pencils, erasers, and a pad: an assortment of tools that I would happily unpack once we got to her office—an architectural firm with grey wall-to-wall rugs and lots of natural light in a building many stories high. She worked at a drawing board on an exposed 2nd-floor loft where I could spread my things out, and look out over the architects working below.

In the space between home and destination, I remember the force of the train rushing alongside the platform where we’d be waiting. I would squeeze tight my mom’s hand as I squinted against the wind, squealing wheels, and fuel smell. I felt small and exhilarated at the same time.

On the train I’d slip around on the plastic seats, excited to open my “lunchbox” and mostly, to get my mom to myself for the day.

Since then, I’ve ridden many trains, subways, and buses, everywhere from New York, New Jersey, Boston, and San Francisco to London and Paris. I’ve ridden public transportation to commute to work, for trips, and simply to get from one place to another.

In college, I rode the Metro-North train between New Haven and New York.

Then, as now, I always look forward to riding the train. There is a feeling of being connected and separate at the same time. I feel at once very independent, and also connected to something greater than myself: humanity and the spirit of people all around me.

On the Metro-North trips in college, I’d take care to get ready for these trips, and to consider what I was packing. I wanted to look my best.

The train ride was a half-way place where I wasn’t on campus, and I wasn’t at my destination either. I was not responsible to anyone but myself, and could work, relax, listen to music, and watch the trees and estuaries pass by for an hour and forty minutes.

There was something exhilarating about leaving behind the regularities, comfort, and even boredom of campus life, and breaking away. The anticipation was something like my excitement waiting for the train as a four-year-old.

Sometimes I made these trips as much for the sake of traveling as for reaching my destination. Sitting on the train, caught in the comfortable place of moving in one direction, independent yet surrounded by people, I could reflect on who I was in a space unlike anywhere else.

Now, as a resident of Massachusetts, I do a lot of walking, and also ride the T and bus often. I love being in the mix of people, and, while I admit that the cons of public transportation are overcrowding, florescent lights, and waiting, when I think of all the positive experiences I’ve had in transit, I am grateful that it exists.

-Kristen von Hoffmann

Going Green in 2009: How-To

Monday, January 5th, 2009

Whether you are using the Greenfox5 to green your classroom, home, or business, it helps to have a roadmap and suggestions on how to do it easily and efficiently.

Please check out an article I wrote for LighterLiving.com, published on January 1st, 2009:

“Go a little green and help to make a large difference.”

Marjolein Brugman, founder of LighterLiving.com, is a Pilates master and innovator in world health and fitness. Her company, LighterLiving.com provides access to positive change for thousands of people by showing them how to transform their lifestyles through simple and healthy mind, body, and soul practices and believes that “going green” is part of that process because it improves quality of life for both the individual and the planet.

Also, check out an article I wrote for the Green Streets Initiative, just published, called:

“Going Green Ain’t Easy–But It’s Important!”

Director Janie Katz-Christy runs the Green Streets Initiative, a grassroots organization of people from Cambridge, Massachusetts and surrounding cities, who celebrate, promote, and advocate for the use of alternative transportation.

It is well known for Walk/Ride Days which occur on the last Friday of every month, encouraging people to wear green and go green by walking, biking, and using public transportation. Even better, the Green Streets Initiative can be actively promoted in schools among students and families.

Also, check us out on PeoplePoweredMachines.com a Greenfox partner that sells eco-friendly machines and tools.

Happy New Year 2009!

-Kristen von Hoffmann

Kristen von Hoffmann kicks off Walk/Ride Days in Harvard Square with Janie Katz-Christy, Director of Green Streets Initiative

Schools As Community-Educators: The Power of Teaching Sustainability Education

Monday, December 8th 2008

Kristen von Hoffmann at the United States Green Building Council Educator's Summit, November 2008.

I recently had the opportunity to attend the international United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Educator’s Summit in Boston on November 21st. I was particularly moved by the keynote address given by Dr. Debra Rowe, President of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development, which convenes mainstream leaders and catalyzes sustainability initiatives. It was a rare occasion to hear someone speaking about sustainability in such an intelligent way. Dr. Rowe had clearly examined sustainability from every possible angle, and knew what she needed to say to get the important points across. “You are in a unique and important position to create a sustainable future. We couldn’t imagine doing it without you,” she repeated.

Kristen von Hoffmann and Dr. Debra Rowe, President of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development, USGBC Educator's Summit, November 2008.

I left the summit with a sense of clarity on several issues, and I left inspired.

As schools, we have a responsibility to make sustainability education a top priority, because we educate both our students and our communities. You have to visualize the network of influence a single school empowers.

In my mind, a school is like a star, emitting powerful light that spreads across great distances both through time and space, convening its own orbit and solar system. I have only to think of the school I attended in nursery through 5th grade, the Montclair Cooperative School, and I am indebted to the countless ways my teachers allowed me to grow into the person I am today.

Schools touch children within, and in doing so, the families of those children; parents who go out into the world every day with values and ideals that are hugely inspired by what their children have to say.

I feel fortunate to be running a company and teaching part-time. In many ways, I can’t imagine not teaching, because I draw on the energy and light from my students daily: it is their enthusiasm for the curriculum I teach that inspires me in my business. I get to experience first-hand the power of teaching sustainability education, watching my students’ excitement and growth from week to week, and imagining what kinds of positive change they will command in the future.

I wake up and think: my students are our future law-makers, parents, consumers, ambassadors, and educators. We have such an important role as teachers in nurturing students’ sense of self and their ability to relate to each other and the environment.

The success of our future is embedded in our ability to recognize our interconnectedness as a global community. We are no longer separate floating entities. We are all responsible to each other, and our success in sustaining the earth will require sustainability initiatives at every level—domestic, town, state, federal, and global. This is a movement and a transformation that requires us to educate our children with the facts of the world; but of equal importance, to teach them strong interpersonal skills.

Happy Holidays.

-Kristen von Hoffmann

The photos below provide snapshots from 2007-2008 of sustainable curriculum and environmental systems that Greenfox has designed and implemented at schools over the past year.

I. LEARNING ABOUT TREES

Students below learn about the science and environmental benefits of trees, including anatomy, carbon impact, and tree species. The children collect their own tree seeds from various sources, then watch them grow over the course of several weeks. Greenfox designed a sustainable growing program with zero net waste: the seed trays are old pizza boxes, water used is from a rainwater collector, and the “watering-cans” are actually used plastic bottles where students have poked holes in the cap.

Students draw from a rainwater collection barrel. They will use this water to nourish their growing seedlings.

Students examine tree seeds they will soon plant.

Old pizza boxes are re-used as seed trays.

A glass jam jar is re-used to water seeds.

A sustainable "watering-can" or used plastic soda bottle with holes poked in the cap. It can be recycled after full use.

II. DESIGNING LEED-CERTIFIED BUILDINGS

Students below design United States Green Building Council LEED-Certified Building Models. They first learn about the requirements of LEED building development, then integrate math manipulatives, drawing, and creative design to work in teams to build hands-on structures for a simulated classroom competition.

Later in the year, they advance to a harder challenge of designing a LEED-certified sustainable school. They must all work together and decide among themselves how they will break into groups to tackle the design of various parts of the school building and campus. The sustainable school is complete with LEED points, as well as Greenfox5system requirements. The models below were showcased by Greenfox Schools at last year’s “Down:2:Earth Sustainability Expo” in Boston, MA.

Students build the first level of the central school building.

Building construction. Students use math manipulatives and blocks to measure and build.

A student uses hundreds-blocks to build.

Becoming adept with tools such as a hammer and screwdriver, this 5th grader takes apart a used clementine-box which he will incorporate into the school building model.

Re-using tissue paper scraps to build the school's rooftop garden.

Using geometric shapes as solar panel arrays.

Building another kind of solar device.

Students make a list of building and system requirements for LEED and Greenfox5

Rooftop garden, part of the "Greenfox5: Greenspace" requirement.

Drawing an architectural sketch for the school's athletic fields.

A peek inside the second floor: students have met the "Greenfox5: Waste Disposal" requirements by setting up recycling, composting, biodegradable products, and organic food.

A model of the school's sustainable gymnasium.

Sustainable athletic fields.

III. A SUSTAINABLE CLASSROOM

Students are committed to maintaining a sustainable classroom throughout the year. The children adhere to various chores and infrastructures to do so; they follow the Greenfox5as a way to organize their efforts.

Students study the importance of natural light, as it requires less reliance on electricity.

Safely unplugging electrical devices and computers at the end of each day is a daily requirement for this classroom. This prevents "phantom" energy from being used during hours when school is not in session.

This classroom also has timed light-sensors, which switch off classroom light when people are not in the room. Nevertheless, students are conscious of turning off the lights when leaving.

This classroom uses non-toxic, eco-friendly cleaners without harmful fumes.

This classroom recycles paper and cans/bottles daily.

Greenfox provides curriculum and teaching that incorporates learning about mathematics and solar panels.

Greenfox5

Greenfox Schools believes that every school has five main functional points that can be optimized to benefit the environment and the health of students and educators nationwide.

The Greenfox5 includes:

I. Energy

II. Waste Disposal

III. Food

IV. Products

V. Greenspace

The Greenfox5 is a strategic approach to greening any building by initiating whole-change sustainability, and was developed by Kristen von Hoffmann at Yale University.

Biography

Kristen von Hoffmann founded Greenfox Schools in March 2008. Now, as a team of eight people, Greenfox partners with environmental service and supply companies to provide schools with cutting edge programs, products, and technology facilitating the green process at a school from start to finish. Program implementation is supplemented with sustainability education that Kristen has developed, including curriculum and the Greenfox Kids Magazine.

Kristen bases her company on the Greenfox5: a strategy that defines the five main functional points of optimization for any building as Energy, Waste Disposal, Food, Products, and Greenspace. Kristen first developed this strategy as an undergraduate at Yale University, where she played an integral role in the start-up of the Yale Sustainable Food Project (YSFP), a university undertaking and national model for sustainability education that includes a college farm, a sustainable dining hall program, university composting, expanded food and agriculture curriculum, community education, and partnership with the renowned Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Kristen received a Sudler Creative Arts Scholarship from the University in 2004 to document a semester on the YSFP’s organic farm through photography, interviews, and policy analysis.

Kristen graduated from Yale in 2006 with a B.A. in English and also studied conservation biology, international relations, and agricultural policy. In 2003, she received a Community Life Grant from the University’s Kidd Foundation to pursue an independent thesis researching Hope VI housing projects in New Haven under Vincent Scully. Kristen was also a Yale-in-London scholar and team winner of the simulated “Redevelopment of East Harlem Competition” in Alexander Garvin’s course “Study of the City,” in 2004.

Currently, Kristen is President of Greenfox Schools in Cambridge, MA, and teaches elementary school part-time. Kristen is on the K-12 Sector Team for the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development. She is also a Board Director for the Boston non-profit ExCL, Extras for Creative Learning. The oldest of three daughters, she was raised in Montclair, New Jersey, where she attended the Montclair Cooperative School and Montclair Public Schools.

Kristen von Hoffmann at the United States Green Building Council Educator's Summit, November 2008.

Mini-Series 4: The Sustainable Classroom: Composting

Monday, November 10th 2008

When we think about the Greenfox Five: Energy, Waste Disposal, Food, Products, and Greenspace, we realize this is a holistic approach to changing a school because it promotes whole-change sustainability.

A school, however, may decide to take one small step toward change, which is valuable nonetheless. Different schools have different budgets, resources, and space for change, necessitating unique approaches for each school.

A school with a smaller budget may want to start in the Greenfox Five category of Waste Disposal, where they can start by implementing a composting program designed by Greenfox. A composting program provides great opportunities for student leadership and curriculum building.

Greenfox can provide the system strategy (how the program will be implemented) as well as the products needed to set up the program (composter, pails, recycling bins, etc).

Finally, don’t forget that becoming a green school is a progressive way of thinking about building design, systems implementation, and education, and therefore creates a competitive marketing edge for your school.

Composting at Your School: Let’s Get Started

What is Compost?

Compost is a rich, heated soil mixture containing rotted organic matter, raw materials, and billions of organisms. Four essential elements for a healthy heap include air, moisture, carbon, and nitrogen. A compost needs a balance of wet green materials (nitrogen-rich) and dry brown materials (carbon-rich).

Greenfox Composting Program for Schools

-The general system implementation for a composting program at a school requires that each classroom be responsible for collecting its own food scraps and depositing them in the main composter located outside. If the school has a cafeteria, there will be a compost bin set up for collection inside the dining hall.

-If collection occurs by classroom, then each classroom will have a tin pail or all-purpose bucket to collect food scraps after snack and lunch.

-One or two students in the class should be assigned the job of composting duty or “composter” on a daily or weekly basis, depending on your class structure.

-This student(s) will be responsible for taking the tin pail outside and depositing the food scraps into the main composter after lunchtime. Likewise, in a cafeteria student leaders or kitchen staff will be responsible for emptying the composting bin outside after mealtime.

The composter may be a sectioned heap, or a tumble-turn barrel composter. The pile must be turned at least once a week, if not daily. There must be a balance between wet green and dry brown materials, and materials should be piled loosely. Raw material such as leaves and twigs can be shredded, and there must be a good amount of air.

Benefits of Composting

-waste diverted from landfills, oceans, and incinerators
-less carbon dioxide used
-richer soil
-helps soil retain water close to roots
-helps feed plants even in droughts
-healthier, stronger plants

What Can Go in the Composter?

Food
vegetables
fruits
egg shells
nuts
teabags
coffee grinds
bread/carbohydrates
minimal amount of meat/dairy
corn husks

Other Raw Materials
grass clippings
old plants
twigs
weeds
leaves
newspapers
wood ash
woodchips
bark
sawdust
vacuum dust
feathers
straw
hair
seaweed
manure (excrement from herbivores)

What Not to Put in the Composter

Food
greasy meats
bones
fatty food wastes (oil, mayo, peanut butter)

Other Raw Materials
human or pet excrement
diseased products
coal or charcoal ash

Signs of Healthy Compost
-deep black-brown color
-earthy smell
-moist, not wet
-hot/heated
-crumbly texture
-pH between 6.0-7.4 (neutral-slightly acidic)

Science Behind Composting: Decomposition

The process of decomposition can be broken down into five stages:
-oxidation
-reduction
-degradation
-conversion
-maturation

When to Spread Compost

Compost can be spread around lawns, fruit trees, shrubs, trees, flower beds, vegetable gardens, seedlings, and potted plants during the spring and summer, and turned into the ground during the fall and winter.

Together, we are making a positive change by reducing the amount of garbage we generate and reducing our carbon footprint as schools. Way to go!

-Kristen von Hoffmann