Resuming WASTE FREE WEDNESDAY!

REDUCE • REUSE • RECYCLE • ROT

We're putting the emphasis on REDUCING by re-introducing 

WASTE FREE WEDNESDAY

Students are doing a pretty terrific job cutting down on trash at the Brackett lunchroom, but we want to see if we can do even better by reducing the amount of packaging used to reduce the amount of material to be recycled as well.

 

IT’S EASY TO CUT OUT LUNCH WASTE.  HERE ARE A FEW TIPS:

    •  Have children help pack their lunches with healthy food they like
    •  Pack lunch the night before in order to avoid morning rush
    •  Pack fresh food from bulk in reusable containers such as:
       tupperware, ziploc snaptops, bento boxes, snack taxis, eco bags
    •  Cut big things into smaller pieces so uneaten portions                                 can be saved for after school snack
    •  Avoid pre-packaged single serving items
    •  Include reusable cutlery, cloth napkin,
    •  Resealable water bottles and thermos
    •  Use a lunchbox or reusable sack

 Here are some images from Waste Free lunches spotted at the Lunchroom

 

Show us your Waste Free Lunch!

 for more information go to

WasteFreeLunches.org

Compost in Action at the Fall Festival

What a gorgeous day for the Brackett Fall Festival last Saturday! We were happy to see many families stopping by after perusing the costumes and sampling some cider and donuts. It was great to have an opportunity to address questions about the composting operation.

It was perfect weather for sifting finished compost and filling the new raised bed that Robin, Jonathan and Aurora put together.  Several students tried their hand at the sifting and were delighted to see the rough twiggy pile turn into soft loose dirt.

 

Others helped with digging and planting the bulbs that Laura supplied. If the squirrels don't get them we'll have a nice array of miniature tulips and daffodils in the spring.

Still other children helped out by romping in the leaf pile. Now we have a good batch of crushed dried leaves to use as a source of browns for the compost recipe.

We're looking forward to the compost crew student captains starting up their lunchroom work soon!

LAST YEAR’S LUNCH?!

                          

Have you seen this wheelbarrow? It’s true. This fine looking, sweet smelling composted mulch is actually derived from Brackett cafeteria food scraps. Starting in April 2012, the leftovers were gathered and mixed with leaves, shredded paper, sawdust and woodchips in compost tumblers and left it to “cook” over the summer. The end product was then sifted and voila!

This Brackett GIG composting project is on-going. With the help of volunteers we continue to encourage students to sort their lunchroom waste.  We average 9 lbs. of recyclables, 9 pounds of trash and 50 pounds of food waste (not including liquids) every day!  This year alone Brackett could divert over 4 tons of food scraps from the waste stream and turn it back into healthy soil. It is part of a larger school waste-reduction program.

BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP.

We have immediate openings for lunchroom recycling/compost coaches each day of the week. A shift only takes an hour and orientation is simple. It is a great way to have a presence in the cafeteria by which to observe our children and the lunchroom routine.

So what’s the GIG?

The Brackett Green Initiatives Group is a collection of parents, students, teachers and neighbors with a common interest in sharing information and sponsoring activities that raise awareness and engender ecologically sustainable practices within the school community. Here are some of the things we did getting started last spring.

·       Conducted a lunchroom waste audit

·       Initiated a lunchroom waste-reduction plan

·       Implemented a composting program

·       Re-activated the school green house

·       Involved students in planting and cultivating mini pizza garden kits

·       Raised funds for the Brackett PTO

·       Raised awareness, questions and enthusiasm in the school community

·       Had fun brainstorming a lot more

In addition to refining the programs already started, some goals for Fall 2012 are:

1.         Build a small raised garden bed outside the cafeteria.

It’s a small project with big ambition: highlighting the full circle of the food cycle

> food scrap  >  compost  > garden soil >  new plant growth >  food >

We need materials, builders, shovelers, sifters, plants and gardeners

2.         Get the student Green Team up and running.

Many, many students have come to us to say they want to be compost crew captains and get involved in fun activities centered on learning the science and wonder of the natural world. Look for details in future school notices.

We need your help and permission for student’s participation.

There are many ways you can help: from signing up for regular compost browns/carbons collection, to developing grant proposals. To get more detail about the activities of the Green Initiatives Group and to get involved visit our blog & SIGN-UP          http://www.signupgenius.com/go

Or email us with your ideas, interests, contact information and availability at gig.brackett@gmail.com

COME JOIN US!

Brackett's Earth Day Celebrations!

 MONDAY

• COME SEE THE NEW COMPOST TUMBLERS IN ACTION!
• GIVE IT A WHIRL AFTER SCHOOL ON THE CAFETERIA TERRACE
• WE'RE MAKING FRESH SOIL FROM OLD FOOD!
• GET A HAND STAMP AT DROP-OFF AND SHOW YOU LOVE THE EARTH
• LOOK FOR EVENTS IN THE COMMUNITY& THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN DO

 

TUESDAY

• THINK HEALTHY — BRING A NUTRITIOUS SNACK TO SCHOOL
• FRUIT—IT’S YUMMY, SWEET, NUTRITIOUS,
• AND PACKED IN ITS OWN BIODEGRADABLE WRAPPER

 

WASTE FREE WEDNESDAY!

• CONTINUE THE GOOD WORK TO REDUCE REUSE AND RECYCLE AT THE CAFETERIA
• PACK A LUNCH USING ONLY REUSABLE CONTAINERS - NOTHING DISPOSABLE
• SEE HOW MUCH LESS WASTE WE WEIGH AFTER LUNCH

 

THURSDAY MOVIE NIGHT!

• ADULTS INVITED TO A PRIVATE VIEWING OF THE DOCUMENTARY “WASTE LAND”
• PRE POTLUCK PARTY & DISCUSSION AFTERWARDS—FIREFLY MOON @ 7:30 PM

 

FRIDAY OPEN GREEN HOUSE AND MOVIE NIGHT!

• KIDS CAN JOIN FAMILY & FRIENDS TO SEE “THE LORAX” MOVIE - PUBLIC SHOWING AT THE CAPITOL THEATER AT 5 and 7:10 PM
• COME SEE WHAT’S GROWING IN THE GREEN HOUSE — 3RD FLR AFTER SCHOOL
• TRY YOUR HAND AT A PLANTING ACTIVITY
• PLACE YOUR ORDER FOR A MINI PIZZA GARDEN — TO BE READY AT JUNE FAIR

MAKE EVERY DAY EARTH DAY!

For more detailed information check out the GREEN corner on the Brackett School Website or talk to someone in the Green Initiatives Group

"Let's hop to it!"

Introduction of a Composting Program at Brackett School

By the Brackett Green Initiatives Group

Background

The Proposed Composting Program at Brackett Elementary has evolved out of our care for the Earth in general, and our desire to do something as a community to contribute to its ecological balance rather than to add to the problem-causing amount of waste and pollution. In looking at our practices at school we found that the biggest impact could be made in the lunch room where up to 85% of the waste generated each day could relatively easily be reduced.

While 15% of that waste can be diverted to recycling, our larger concern is the 70% which constitutes the amount of uneaten food that accumulates in the school lunchroom and is thrown into the dumpster each day. On average the number is 50 pounds per day (not including liquids) or 250 pounds per week. That’s about 4 tons of food scraps being hauled just from Brackett Elementary to the municipal waste incinerator each year!

Composting is the natural way to divert that tonnage from the waste stream and return it to the earth by converting it to nutrient-rich soil.

How Does It Work?

Using the process of decomposition, composting turns the food scraps into soil that is rich in plant nutrients. The food scraps (nitrogen) are mixed with dried leaves and shredded paper (carbon). Ensuring proper moisture and aeration encourages the beneficial micro-organisms to do their job in breaking down the material. These micro-organisms manage the chemical process by converting the inputs into heat, carbon dioxide and ammonium which is further converted by nitrification into plant-nourishing elements.

Description of Proposed Operation

The Green Initiatives Group has spent a great deal of time researching the topic, speaking with experts in the field, and visiting other sites to educate ourselves on the subject in order to make our best informed effort as we initiate this project. We are at the beginning of the implementation phase and will work hard to figure out what works for Brackett.

To get the process started at Brackett, we have a committed group willing and able to operate the program from Earth Day to the end of the school year. There will be a volunteer available each day to be at the school lunchroom at the end of the lunch period to take care of and ensure clean composting operations.

Materials and Procedure

We are proposing to remove the food scraps, excluding meat and dairy, each day after the lunch sessions and put them into sealed bins called compost tumblers. The models we have selected are dual-chamber, heavy duty black plastic with locking doors. Each time the food scraps are added we will also add double the volume of “browns”-These will be a stock most likely dried leaves from yard clean-ups. Then the chamber door is locked and the bin is spun on its axis to mix the ingredients.

The process is repeated each day until the bin reaches capacity. We imagine it will take a single week. At that point, we leave that chamber to “cook”, continuing to turn once or twice a week, while we move on to fill the next bin. And so on. When all the bins have been filled we will go back to the original one to empty it and sift the contents through a 1/8” to ½” sieve into a wheelbarrow. The finished product will be a fresh natural fertilizer that can be used to place around the base of ornamental shrubs and trees on the school grounds and in the neighborhood.

Location

We are proposing a location for the initial operation just outside the lunchroom terrace which will be easily accessible but at the same time out of the way. We will start with three tumblers for a total of 6 chambers plus a large covered bin for leaves.

Prevention of Nuisance Conditions

We are very aware that there may be some concerns about unpleasant odors that attract undesired creatures to the school. The fact is that, unlike garbage, compost, when managed well, should not have any offending odors. The trick is to have the right balance of carbon to nitrogen with the right amount of moisture. We will work hard to create the conditions necessary to have a well managed operation that avoids those issues.

Regulations

According to the definitions set forth by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the scale of our proposed operation is considered small and therefore exempt from any regulations. We were required to submit our plan of operation for notification 30 days prior to commencing operations to both the DEP and local Board of Health which we did at the beginning of March. We have received no comment thus far. We also sent a courtesy letter to the School Superintendant informing her of our intentions and asking for comment a week prior to mailing the formal notice to DEP and BOH.

Looking Ahead

All composting programs must really be site-specific and custom designed to be successful. As mentioned before, we are at the beginning of the implementation phase and still have much to learn by continuing to consult with those more experienced and by trial and error in the course of making the compost. Things will most likely change over time, but we have to start somewhere.

There is a very large amount of interest in what we are doing already expressed by people of the town, the Recycling Committee, Sustainable Arlington, Vision 20/20, Student groups at Arlington High school and parents from other schools. People are looking to us to see how we do it, and if we succeed to see how such a program can be replicated . The Green Initiatives Group is committed to making our best effort to see that a composting program does succeed at Brackett and with hope can become a model for other schools.

Lunch Waste Project

We had a few questions about waste.

A bunch of parents, volunteers, staff and students conducted an experiment in the lunch room. Instead of throwing all our garbage into one big bin . . .

We sorted it into 4 categories:

• Recyclable materials
• Compostable food
• Lunch trays
• Trash

We had a lot of questions about what goes where:

• Do milk cartons and juice boxes get treated the same?
• If the plastic doesn’t have a number on it, is it still recyclable? 
• Is paper considered trash, recyclable or compost?
• . . . and many others

We weighed the bags and figured averages:

All the lunch periods combined produce an average of 70 punds of garbage per day!

Everyone did a really good job and we learned a lot. Check out the charts and pictures on the next pages. And stay tuned because . . .

We still have lots of questions!

What waste do we produce?

Our initial survey indicates that the lunch room alone produces on average almost 70 pounds of garbage each day.!

That’s about eight bags full including two giant bags of styrofoam lunch trays.

Sometimes it looked and smelled pretty gross.

When we were done, the garbage bags took a bow.

Where does our waste go?

What happens next?

At the incinerator everything gets burned. The residual ash is transported to a landfill. Energy that is generated from the burning is captured and sold.

The process diagram might look something like this:

At the recycling plant things get sorted out, re-bundled, and sold. The bundled recycled material goes to places as far as North Carolina, Canada, Mexico and even India!

The process might look something like this:

We still have lots of questions!

Here's how much waste we produce in one week at Brackett.

Click here to see how much we produce in a day, a week, a month, and a year!