Print  email 

tool name

close

tool goes here

From lunch trays to the garden

Recycling: Thurston schoolkids save leftovers to be composted

JOHN DODGE; Staff writer | • Published February 08, 2010

• Comments (0)

TUMWATER - Lunchtime won't be the same for the students at Michael T. Simmons Elementary and 11 other schools participating in Thurston County's Food to Flowers Program.

There’s still the rush to eat, the chatter and the clusters of friends in each of the three lunch breaks required to feed all 650 students at the Tumwater school.

But when the eating is over, what’s new is the effort each and every student makes to recycle leftover food, napkins and other compost-worthy materials from lunch trays.

Since launching the program in December, the school has diverted an average of 90 percent of the lunchroom food waste and other recyclables that used to be sent to the landfill, school officials said.

The organic waste is collected and sent to Silver Springs Organics, a Tenino-area commercial composting plant that turns the lunch waste into a natural soil amendment.

“The next step is to bring the compost back and use it on the school grounds,” parent volunteer Darin Rice said.

The Food to Flowers Program is operated by the county Solid Waste Department and began at Tumwater Hill Elementary School in April 2008. Since, it has spread to 11 other schools countywide, said Peter Guttchen, a county education and outreach specialist.

Collectively, these schools have diverted more than 60 tons of organics and other recyclables from disposal, Guttchen said.

The students at Michael T. Simmons line up after lunch and methodically sort and recycle their leftovers. Older student volunteers guide their schoolmates through the process.

There’s more to the program than recycling, school Principal Trisha Smith said.

“Our motto is, ‘Take what you want, but eat what you take,’” Smith said, voicing a simple waste-reduction rule of thumb.

The students who bring their lunches from home are encouraged to rely on reusable containers or wrap food in wax paper, which can be recycled with the food waste.

Fourth-grader Angela Pratt, 10, led by example last week, eating her yogurt out of a washable plastic container.

“It’s really pretty easy to recycle,” offered Leah Rietema, 9.

The students were recognized for their efforts by the three Thurston County commissioners, who visited the school at lunch hour Wednesday and saw a young generation of environmental stewards at work.

“You’re going to change the world, whether you know it or not,” Commissioner Cathy Wolfe told the students.

The commissioners awarded certificates of achievement to the school and two sixth-grade students – Zoe Chapman and Taylor Krug – who volunteer every day on the sort line, train other volunteers and help county solid waste officials collect data on the program.

“The program has changed the way these kids think about the planet and the food they eat,” fifth-grade teacher Susie Hayes said.

The students’ new recycling habits are saving the school district money on garbage too, Guttchen noted.

Before Food to Flowers, the school’s garbage bill was $6,580 a year. Now it’s estimated at $5,523 annually.

John Dodge: 360-754-5444

jdodge@theolympian.com