Vision

Our vision was to enhance the composting that happens in our school. “We want to get classrooms around the school to put a compost bin in their class. We will take the compost and turn it into soil. Then we will plant spider plants in the classrooms. We are trying to reduce the amount of waste in a sustainable way. We will reduce the total waste in the school by an estimated 12%.”

Action

With the money we received from the Learning for a Sustainable Future Grant, we were able to add a couple of different things to our school’s compost program. All classroom teachers who wanted a classroom compost bin received one (17 classrooms). Around 150 students directly use these bins for their waste, and all the staff do as well. Additionally, we were able to host a vermicomposter workshop and make three vermicomposting bins to add to our school. We learned a lot through this opportunity. These hard-working worms also help us divert waste from a landfill. The soil that they produce has also been added to a school wildflower garden as well as several classroom spider plants. We chose to add spider plants to more classrooms because they help purify the air.

Reflection & Celebration

We empty the classroom compost bins weekly. We estimate that every time we empty the bins, we collect about 4 lbs of food waste. Therefore, we have already diverted about 40 lbs of food waste from landfills! This doesn’t include the food waste that we give the worms in the vermicomposters when they need more food. It is pretty cool to know that we actually made a difference and did something to make the school better. This is also something that we can continue next year when we are in Grade 9, and it can continue when we move to the high school as well. We made a change that will have a lasting impact.

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