The city of Eugene and the School Garden Project teamed up at Adams Elementary last week to give local teachers and parents of local students a crash course on composting.
The workshop was held in support of the city’s recent announcement to build and implement five new school gardens and cafeteria composting programs in the 2011-2012 school year.
“Most food waste in Eugene ends up in the landfill, which squanders a resource with valuable economic properties. Landfilling also generates methane, which is a potent climate-damaging gas. Even if the gas is used to generate power at the County’s landfill, some of it still escapes into the atmosphere,” writes Bob Doppelt in a recent Statesman-Journal story.
The school compost workshop was kicked off by Rachel Sanders of the School Garden Project. Teachers, parents and other community members learned what makes composting a sustainable practice and why school cafeteria composting is important.
The group then moved outside where Adams Elementary parent, Matt Rasmussen, discussed his involvement in the program and how the composting actually works. This provided teachers at other schools an opportunity to ask questions about their own compost program and procedures.
The mulch created by the Adams Elementary composting program will be used in the school’s garden. Students will have a hands-on role in the composting process.
“The best thing about this program, is watching the kids get excited,” said Anne Donahue, a compost specialist with the city of Eugene. “They are so young and small that to watch them get excited about helping the environment, it makes it all worth it.”
Photo Credit: Kylie Keppler
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