Zero waste schools program at greenwich public schools
As the Town’s largest institution, Greenwich Public Schools contributes significantly to the municipal waste stream. But a large percentage of waste generated in our schools can be reduced, recycled, composted or replaced with sustainable products, resulting in fiscal savings, environmental benefits and educational opportunities.
The Zero Waste Schools (ZWS) Program empowers students and staff to adopt sustainable behaviors by preventing and diverting material, which would otherwise be disposed, to the highest and most valuable use. Zero Waste Schools is a collaboration between GPS Facilities, PTAC Green Schools Committee and Waste Free Greenwich, which worked together to develop and implement the initiatives. Through the program, the district will not only lead the community in waste reduction and diversion efforts but will also contribute to state and local goals.
CAFETERIA WASTE REDUCTION PROGRAM
Starting in 2019, GPS implemented a waste reduction program in elementary and middle school cafeterias. The program featured updated bilingual signage and color-coded sorting stations, including collection toters for liquids collection, recycling and trash, as well as a tray stacking area.
Liquids are one of the heaviest components of trash and one of the most expensive to dispose. When liquids are added to trash or recycling, there is the potential for leaky bags. They also are a major contaminant in the recycling and are prohibited by state and local guidelines. Now, students pour milk, juice and water into a separate bin, which is emptied by custodians into a slop sink.
Procedures for recycling were updated to comply with state guidelines and streamlined to include only the most common lunchroom items, like drink containers, hard plastics and aluminum foil. This approach makes recycling easier and less confusing for students and greatly reduced contamination.
Before the program, the molded fiber trays were tossed loosely in the trash bin, requiring the liners to be changed after every lunch period. Now students stack their trays neatly one on top of each other, and they all fit neatly into just one bag. Across the elementary schools, this simple practice of tray stacking reduces the annual volume of waste by almost 9,000 bags. Custodians spend less time and labor changing the bins, and less money is spent on single-use plastic bags.
FOOD SCRAP REDUCTION AND RECYCLING:
Food scrap recycling, in conjunction with prevention strategies, share tables and external donation, is a highly effective strategy to reduce trash tonnage and to mitigate the associated environmental and financial costs of wasted food.
1. Share Tables:
Share tables are stations where children may return whole food or beverage items they choose not to eat, in compliance with local and state health and food safety codes, to make items available to other children who may want additional servings. To address increasing food insecurity among students and to cut disposal of nutritious, usable food, it is recommended that share tables be implemented at all Greenwich Public Schools.
2. Food Donation:
This strategy, which is supported by federal and state agencies, provides donation of any program food that is not consumed, including federally subsidized meals, to eligible food banks or charitable organizations. External food donation is a recommended strategy for GPS to reduce food waste and support food security in our community. The program is run by PTAs in coordination with Food Rescue US, Fairfield County. Participating schools include Old Greenwich, International School at Dundee and Riverside.
3. Food Scrap Recycling:
A pilot of food scrap recycling, implemented at New Lebanon School from January to June 2023, achieved a diversion rate of 75% and eliminated 3,570 lbs of organic material from the waste stream. During the 2023-24 school year, GPS Facilities, PTAC Green Schools and Waste Free Greenwich worked collaboratively to expand the program to additional elementary schools - Hamilton Avenue, Julian Curtiss, Old Greenwich, Parkway and Riverside.
At the six participating schools, 23,350 lbs of food scraps and non-recyclable paper were diverted from incineration to anaerobic digestion, and diversion rates jumped from 45% to 74% on average with the addition of food scrap recycling to existing waste reduction efforts. Each day, students separated approximately 40 lbs of organic material in the cafeterias, an annual projection of 43,416 lbs at the participating schools. It is estimated that during the school year each student generates 22 lbs of food scraps that could composted. If the program is implemented district wide, nearly 186,000 lbs, or 93 tons, could be eliminated from the trash to higher use as energy and compost, which is used in the school gardens.
EDUCATIONAL TRAINING
Community and parent volunteers, which were organized by PTAC Green Schools Committee and Waste Free Greenwich, trained the students in proper sorting, using videos, a compost challenge competition, worm encounter and video game, and monitored the sorting process in the cafeteria. Suggested classroom activities included games, media center readings, and student-led presentations. Waste audits were periodically conducted by volunteers to measure the tonnage collected, and our organics hauler tracked and reported tonnages collected. Some schools received finished compost for their school gardens, highlighting the connection between food scrap recycling in the cafeteria and growing produce on campus.
RECYCLING
According to GPS Procedure E-051.35, "Greenwich Public Schools recycles because it is the law (Ref. GS22a-220, GS 22a-208v, 22a- 256ee, 22a-241b, 22a-249; Greenwich Municipal Code Section 8A), to promote an environmentally sound practice and as an educational strategy." The document also lists mandatory recyclables and roles and responsibilities of stakeholders. In order to comply with state and local laws, it is imperative that recycling containers are made available in school cafeterias, in classrooms and throughout schools. Students, teachers and staff should be informed regularly and consistently about best practices and current guidelines through educational programming, signage and training.