Bellingham School District, WA Food Plus!/Food to Flowers!

Type: Pilot Program

Status: Unclear

Source File: http://www.bsd501.org/go/doc/420/87749/

Description:

Three elementary schools in the Bellingham School District are participating in a Food Plus!/Food to Flowers! pilot program with Sanitary Service Company Inc. beginning Jan. 4 to recycle cafeteria food scraps into compost to reduce waste.

The pilot program is modeled after the educational Food to Flowers! school food recycling program in San Francisco.

"We are trying to reduce the amount of trash generated during meals at our schools. It is much more cost effective for the district to reduce trash through food recycling. Equally important, this is an environmental education opportunity for our community's children," said Brett Greenwood, the district's food service manager.

Staff and parent volunteers at Alderwood, Lowell and Roosevelt elementary schools are training students to place their food scraps, milk cartons and other food-related paper products in recycle bins. Cafeteria food and food-related paper products such as napkins, as well food scraps/ items from students who bring lunch to school, is being recycled.

The materials are being collected through Sanitary Service Company (SSC) Inc.'s Food Plus! Recycling service and composted at Green Earth Technologies (GET) in Lynden. The program is identical to SSC's residential food recycling program. The compost will be sold locally.

The three schools will pilot food recycling for about one month to determine its cost effectiveness and impact. If successful, the district will consider expanding the program.

The pilot program is a joint effort between SSC and the district's food service program and maintenance department.