MILWAUKEE (AP) - Students at a Milwaukee elementary school already grow vegetables and raise perch, so adding composting to its list of lessons on the environment was a no-brainer.
Fernwood Montessori is working with a business called Compost Crusader to recycle its food waste, WUWM-FM reported (https://bit.ly/2l7ZYto). The company hauls up to 300 pounds of the school’s food waste to a processor each week.
“We’re willing to do pick up … so we’ll take it off your hands and we can compost cooked meat, dairy, breads, pasta,” said Melissa Tashjian, founder of Compost Crusader. “Anything that comes out of your cafeteria for the most part, we can compost that as well.”
Students line up to toss their leftovers into the proper bin at lunchtime, and every classroom has its own compost caddy. Their partitioned trays are also biodegradable.
“The district was like, hey, this is great,” said Matt Ray, Fernwood teacher. “We really want to take a look at how we handle our waste. We got our receptacles donated. Mel’s got the truck and the dumpsters are getting welded up.”
Seventh-grade students said that they’re learning everything from how recycling works to how to design their own compost bin. They’re also teaching younger students how to compost.
Tashjian said she hopes the arrangement with Fernwood is just the beginning of a positive relationship with schools.
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Information from: WUWM-FM, https://www.wuwm.com
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