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