Green Team Pilot:
Food waste diversion and recycling in the Tucker and Glover School Cafeterias
Sustainable Milton has partnered with the Milton Public Schools and the Department of Public Works to implement a food waste and recycling pilot program in the Tucker and Glover elementary schools. The program aims to educate students, staff, and families about food waste and how everyone can help reduce food waste to make meaningful contributions to our community every day.
We will first educate students and staff that all waste put into the trash is sent to an incinerator and burnt, that this waste stream creates CO2 and contributes to air pollution, and that the town has to pay for waste to be collected and burnt.
We will then demonstrate to students and staff how to sort food waste into solids; which are placed in compost bins, liquids, which are placed in pour-off stations, and recyclable plastics and paper into bins for recyclables.
To provide students and staff with direct feedback on their efforts, we will quantify 1) how much they are reducing the schools food waste, 2) how much they are reducing carbon emissions, 3) how much nutrition-dense soil to grow more food they are generating and 4) cost savings for the town.
We want to THANK the DPW who have allocated MRD funds for the Compost Pickups by Black Earth for this Pilot program!
Can you help us make this initiative a success and a positive learning experience for the students?
Volunteer your time:
All volunteers need to have a CORI completed within the last two years. If you already have a valid CORI on file at school you are all set.
@ Glover Please contact Deborah Woods via email prior to volunteering: dwoods@miltonps.org
@Tucker Please visit the front office in person to submit your CORI form
ALLOW 2 WEEKS PRIOR TO YOUR VOLUNTEER SLOT FOR CORI PROCESSING!
Please utilize these helpful resources:
Videos/Documents from successful programs:
Curriculum Examples, other Educational Resources
-
DEP Green Teams: Lesson Plan
-
Signage: Recycling and Food Waste
-
School Wide Composting Video: Amy Donovan
Composting resources
-
Learn more about how you can compost at home here.
-
Milton Grows Resources SM presentation: Lets Compost.
WHY?
There are three main reasons why we know this program will benefit our community.
Food waste is a huge problem in our country. According to EPA, food waste is the single most common material landfilled and incinerated in the United States.
Estimates are that food waste make up 22%-24% of the total solid waste. Thats ¼ of all solid waste is organic materials.
The MA climate and clean energy plan (CECP) calls for a 90% reduction in solid waste disposal by 2050! So we need to start this process now reach these goals.
Food waste is also a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emission production and reducing it is one way we can easily decrease our emissions and we met Net Zero goals (definitions) for the future.
This food waste and recycling program is a perfect educational opportunity to teach students/staff sustainable practices that can be transferred into their everyday life and bring with them wherever they go!
WHERE and WHEN?
The Pilot will start in Tucker and Glover Elementary School Cafeterias in February 27th 2023.
We plan to demonstrate the carbon offset benefits and the cost savings in order to expand to all the Milton Public Schools by 2025.
HOW?
Over the past year, SM has been networking throughout MA in order to learn about the implementation process. We have seen how schools have successfully changed their waste habits, discussed some of the challenges they have faced, and how they have handled the
You can see some examples here that we have come across in different locations we have visited.
Small and large businesses, municipalities and residences, local and global event planners are all starting to develop their own systems to minimize waste and divert organics and recyclables from the trash stream.
During the Green Teams Pilot, we plan to develop a system that will work best for our community!
WHAT does it look like?
These are some examples of school cafeterias in MA where composting and recycling programs have been implemented.
Do you have ideas for what your lunch room sorting station would look like?
WHO?
Sustainable Milton will be leading the volunteer efforts on this project but it will take cooperation from the custodial staff, school administrators and staff members, students and parents!
All volunteers need to have a CORI completed within the last two years. If you already have a valid CORI on file at school you are all set.
@ Glover Please contact Deborah Woods via email prior to volunteering: dwoods@miltonps.org
@Tucker Please visit the front office in person to submit your CORI form
ALLOW 2 WEEKS PRIOR TO YOUR VOLUNTEER SLOT FOR CORI PROCESSING!
Participate today! @Glover Sign Up @Tucker Sign Up
