Growing Together: Open Forum

Hello! If am working with a school that wants to collect compost in their cafeteria. I am wanting to learn if there are suggestions of how to effectively teach kids what goes into the compost bin. I have made signs, but feel like kids don't always look at signs and there is also limited availability for an adult to moniter every compost bin on a daily basis. 

Thanks in advance. 

Contact BREATHE California Sacramento. I don't know what state you are in but Sacramento BREATHE developed a great presentation for school kids on composting. They also spent weeks in the cafeteria at lunch sorting garbage, recycling and composting with the kids. We followed up by showing kids what goes in our composting bin in the garden. I have a large piece of wood (2' wide x 4' tall x 1 inch thick) that I have painted on it Compost - Nitrogen - Air - Carbon - Water with a little illustration.

This program from BREATHE did not get renewed but contact Melissa Hill and see if she would be willing to share - mhill@sacbreathe.org

Hello! If am working with a school that wants to collect compost in their cafeteria. I am wanting to learn if there are suggestions of how to effectively teach kids what goes into the compost bin. I have made signs, but feel like kids don't always look at signs and there is also limited availability for an adult to moniter every compost bin on a daily basis. 

Thanks in advance. 

Hi! 

Thank you so much. Sounds like an awesome program. I reached out to her! 

That piece of wood sounds awesome with the illustrations on it! 

Have a great day! 

Contact BREATHE California Sacramento. I don't know what state you are in but Sacramento BREATHE developed a great presentation for school kids on composting. They also spent weeks in the cafeteria at lunch sorting garbage, recycling and composting with the kids. We followed up by showing kids what goes in our composting bin in the garden. I have a large piece of wood (2' wide x 4' tall x 1 inch thick) that I have painted on it Compost - Nitrogen - Air - Carbon - Water with a little illustration.

This program from BREATHE did not get renewed but contact Melissa Hill and see if she would be willing to share - mhill@sacbreathe.org

Hello! If am working with a school that wants to collect compost in their cafeteria. I am wanting to learn if there are suggestions of how to effectively teach kids what goes into the compost bin. I have made signs, but feel like kids don't always look at signs and there is also limited availability for an adult to moniter every compost bin on a daily basis. 

Thanks in advance. 

Hello! If am working with a school that wants to collect compost in their cafeteria. I am wanting to learn if there are suggestions of how to effectively teach kids what goes into the compost bin. I have made signs, but feel like kids don't always look at signs and there is also limited availability for an adult to moniter every compost bin on a daily basis. 

Thanks in advance. 

Hi Sophie!

How exciting that you're helping a school collect cafeteria food waste! I spent this past spring semester helping several schools implement a cafeteria waste sorting line, and found that the sorting line set up as well as the education piece is critical to helping students understand why it's important to compost plus how to compost. I also found that having as many touchpoints as you can have with the education piece helps make this program more successful. Here are some examples:

1. Sorting set-up: If possible, consider having one station for collecting trash and food waste. (I know this isn't always possible -- our high school doesn't have space for one sorting line this so we're going to have to do multiple small stations in the cafeteria, which isn't ideal for monitoring...)
2. Hands-on experiment: It's powerful for students to understand that food comes from living things, therefore it can decompose, and seeing how food decomposes (and how plastics, etc... don't decompose) helps cement these concepts in their mind. To help students visualize this beyond the backyard compost bin, there is a great experiment in Life Lab's activity guide "The Growing Classroom" called You Look Different From The Last Time I Saw You, that has students observe and compare decomposition of various items found in the cafeteria and school lunch (plastic fork, napkin, pizza crust, pear, etc...). Over time, students discover that the plastic items don't decompose within the time frame of the experiment, but the food items do. Maybe each classroom could set up an experiment to observe and collect data? If you are composting food scraps in your school garden bin, of course it will be important to help students discern meat and dairy items from fruits and vegetables so that you're only collecting fruits and vegetables for the bin. Our schools have a composting service that picks up the food scraps, so we put all food and napkins in the bin.
3. Integration into the already existing curriculum and/or extra interactive presentation: Students are likely already learning about decomposition in the science curriculum, and they just need to take things one step further to apply their learning through cafeteria composting. Take a look at the curriculum to see how this piece could fit in. Also consider doing a short lesson with each classroom (or asking the classroom teachers to present the lesson). I am happy to send you the lesson I created for our elementary schools - let me know if you would like me to send it!
4. Sorting activity: Create a sorting activity with representative cafeteria items for groups of students to practice sorting into the correct piles. Which items go into the compost bin? Make a class set for each classroom so that after school breaks students can practice sorting before they go to lunch. I'm happy to send you the sorting activity I created for our schools for reference.
   
   
5. Direct instruction in the cafeteria: During lunchtime, visit each table of students and show them how to sort their tray to make it easier when they come up to the food waste collection bin. Having an adult volunteer or cafeteria monitor at the sorting station definitely decreases possible contamination, but like you said, it's not always possible to have this help. Consider training student volunteers to take turns monitoring the station. 
6. Signage: You're right that signage isn't the stand alone answer, but it can help increase success for those students who look at it. :)

I hope all of this info helps! You're doing amazing work!!!

Amber

Hello! If am working with a school that wants to collect compost in their cafeteria. I am wanting to learn if there are suggestions of how to effectively teach kids what goes into the compost bin. I have made signs, but feel like kids don't always look at signs and there is also limited availability for an adult to moniter every compost bin on a daily basis. 

Thanks in advance. 

Hi Sophie!

How exciting that you're helping a school collect cafeteria food waste! I spent this past spring semester helping several schools implement a cafeteria waste sorting line, and found that the sorting line set up as well as the education piece is critical to helping students understand why it's important to compost plus how to compost. I also found that having as many touchpoints as you can have with the education piece helps make this program more successful. Here are some examples:

1. Sorting set-up: If possible, consider having one station for collecting trash and food waste. (I know this isn't always possible -- our high school doesn't have space for one sorting line this so we're going to have to do multiple small stations in the cafeteria, which isn't ideal for monitoring...)
2. Hands-on experiment: It's powerful for students to understand that food comes from living things, therefore it can decompose, and seeing how food decomposes (and how plastics, etc... don't decompose) helps cement these concepts in their mind. To help students visualize this beyond the backyard compost bin, there is a great experiment in Life Lab's activity guide "The Growing Classroom" called You Look Different From The Last Time I Saw You, that has students observe and compare decomposition of various items found in the cafeteria and school lunch (plastic fork, napkin, pizza crust, pear, etc...). Over time, students discover that the plastic items don't decompose within the time frame of the experiment, but the food items do. Maybe each classroom could set up an experiment to observe and collect data? If you are composting food scraps in your school garden bin, of course it will be important to help students discern meat and dairy items from fruits and vegetables so that you're only collecting fruits and vegetables for the bin. Our schools have a composting service that picks up the food scraps, so we put all food and napkins in the bin.
3. Integration into the already existing curriculum and/or extra interactive presentation: Students are likely already learning about decomposition in the science curriculum, and they just need to take things one step further to apply their learning through cafeteria composting. Take a look at the curriculum to see how this piece could fit in. Also consider doing a short lesson with each classroom (or asking the classroom teachers to present the lesson). I am happy to send you the lesson I created for our elementary schools - let me know if you would like me to send it!
4. Sorting activity: Create a sorting activity with representative cafeteria items for groups of students to practice sorting into the correct piles. Which items go into the compost bin? Make a class set for each classroom so that after school breaks students can practice sorting before they go to lunch. I'm happy to send you the sorting activity I created for our schools for reference.
   
   
5. Direct instruction in the cafeteria: During lunchtime, visit each table of students and show them how to sort their tray to make it easier when they come up to the food waste collection bin. Having an adult volunteer or cafeteria monitor at the sorting station definitely decreases possible contamination, but like you said, it's not always possible to have this help. Consider training student volunteers to take turns monitoring the station. 
6. Signage: You're right that signage isn't the stand alone answer, but it can help increase success for those students who look at it. :)

I hope all of this info helps! You're doing amazing work!!!

Amber

Hello! If am working with a school that wants to collect compost in their cafeteria. I am wanting to learn if there are suggestions of how to effectively teach kids what goes into the compost bin. I have made signs, but feel like kids don't always look at signs and there is also limited availability for an adult to moniter every compost bin on a daily basis. 

Thanks in advance.