Schools start composting By Molly Walsh Free Press Staff Writer Thursday is pizza day at the cafeteria that serves Edmunds Elementary and Middle schools in Burlington. This week lunch was different: After downing their triangles of cheese and crust, students didn't simply scrape the remaining contents of their lunch trays into a trash bin. Instead, they took part in an effort expected to divert tons of waste from landfills to the Burlington Intervale where it can be composted and used to fertilize gardens. To that end, students carefully emptied food scraps and napkins into one bin, poured leftover milk and juice into another, put recyclable bottles into another and plastic utensils and plates into another. Bright-colored posters helped youngsters navigate the sorting process and teachers and parent volunteers offered tips. Bianca Melloni, a first-grader on the school's compost squad, explained why the start-up program is a good thing. "Because if you didn't compost then the world would be all trash," she said. Edmunds Middle School students supported the effort, as well. "I think it's like, a really, really good idea and they should do it at all the schools," said Gabrielle Celeste, a sixth-grader. "It really helps the kids notice how much they waste," said Cora Groves, also in sixth grade. Students who are weighing and charting the waste discovered that in just one day this week, middle school eaters put 130 pounds of food, napkins and liquids into the compost bins. The early numbers suggest that 80 percent to 90 percent of the lunch waste the schools formerly sent to the landfill can be composted. Keeping the waste out of the landfill is a big victory, said Holly Taylor, compost maven at the Intervale Compost facility. She's helping Edmunds and wants to see more schools get with the program. "We're optimistic. To see it happen here is really encouraging," Taylor said. The Edmunds schools, which sit side by side on Main Street, join several others in Chittenden County that are turning lunch leftovers into garden fertilizer. Williston's Allen Brook School composted more than 3,000 pounds of food last year and this year the effort spread to the town's Central School. Several other schools have tried composting but have for various reasons stopped, said Michael Kellogg, waste reduction specialist at The Chittenden Solid Waste District in Williston. The sorting takes effort, and so does lining up a hauler. Some schools try composting on-site, which provides another learning opportunity for students and eliminates the energy and expense of hauling. But on-site composting requires someone to do the work. "In any school environment there's so much stuff going on that in order to implement something of this nature requires a tremendous amount of effort," Kellogg said. Edmunds parents, teachers and students have spent months planning the program that began this week. They persuaded All Cycle to pick up the scraps and take them to the Intervale free for the remainder of the school year. The benefits of composting were extolled in classrooms, assemblies and artwork. Allen Brook students visited Edmunds to talk compost a few months ago. "We just shared stories and answered questions," said David Bolger, a third- and fourth-grade teacher at the Williston school. "Don't be afraid. Just jump into it," he advised any school considering composting. Volunteers at Edmunds are hoping the composting program will do more than recycle waste. Bonnie Acker, mother of a seventh-grader, is noting what's thrown out and what's eaten. She wants to see more whole grains, fresh produce and Vermont food on the school menu. Many parents want to see a more varied menu, Acker said. Compost cheerleaders hope the effort will spread to the entire Burlington district and reduce the $50,000 spent annually on trash pickup at city schools. Burlington Superintendent Lyman Amsden is receptive, but cautions that the effort needs champions at each school. "I think it's like anything else; if people buy into those things anything can happen." Contact Molly Walsh at 660-1874 or mwalsh@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com