Composting

Houlton Southside School, Aroostook County
An exemplar of building student and community stewardship

“The students beg for a turn to do it, I mean, who wants to take out garbage?”

DEBORAH MELVIN, third-grade teacher

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Around twenty years ago, Deborah Melvin, an elementary school teacher, took advantage of a workshop held by the local soil and water conservation district. Today, she is still implementing the composting practices she learned while she continues to refine her methods. All third-grade students at Houlton Southside School are involved in the composting program. They learn what composting is and how to compost leftover school lunch food items. Students from previous years teach the new students how to collect, weigh, and record data from each lunch. The class reads and investigates other composting projects and examines composting data from around the world. They summarize and analyze the data from Houlton Southside each term and share information with the school board. Students discuss the environmental impact of the school and think about how composting can impact the world and the future. Although Melvin has worked at several schools since starting her composting program, she brings it with her to each new school, if possible. And even after two decades of composting experience, she is still experimenting and learning along with her students: “You can make it really sophisticated or you can make it as simple as possible. We try to make it as simple as possible, but it’s an ongoing process.”

THE PROGRAM

After the initial training, students place a five-gallon bucket in the cafeteria. Every day, students and cafeteria staff put scraps of food in the bucket. One third grader wears gloves and helps the other students sort their food into compost and trash. The student records the weight of the scraps before taking the compost outside. Cafeteria staff also contribute to the composting process by setting aside food scraps from meal preparation. Custodian Gary Joslyn said, “We have a lot of fun with our composting… everyone gets into it.”

In the classroom, students explore the composting process up close. Using a small model composter with three sections, students place food scraps (an apple core, a banana peel) in the first section, school paper in the second, and a Styrofoam cup in the third. Students observe the three bins daily and observe that the apple cores and banana peels are gone within a month. The papers take a little longer, but the Styrofoam cup does not change. In fact, Melvin has been using the same Styrofoam cup for this demonstration for the past twenty years. Students also have the opportunity to hypothesize and test out different types of bins and equipment for the best composting. Students constantly ask questions about the process and engage in scientific inquiry. Theyobserve how the composting rate decreases during the winter and how during the colder months the temperature of the compost pile is still warm because of the biological process that is occurring.

Students analyze the yearly data collected over the extensive span of time Melvin has been running this program. They compute the total amount of garbage diverted and how much money the district saves by composting. This year, Melvin reported that over 2400 pounds of food waste was diverted, which, at 33 cents per pound, saved the district around $800! In fact, the cost savings is a strategy Melvin uses to get support within her school. She explains,

“When I first moved to this building, that’s how I got the janitor on board. He would
ask, ‘Why are you doing this?’ And so I said, ‘Because we all should be doing it, you have grandchildren too.’ But as soon as I said it saves the district money, he was on board. And he did it; he would put the bucket out for other grades and take the bucket out himself.”

Students are expected to communicate their knowledge to diverse audiences such as the school board, 4-H groups, and next year’sstudents. By presenting their findings students build confidence and communication skills. Every year, Melvin is asked to bring some of her vermicomposting worms and a poster to a children’s fair and, alongside her students, shares the story of composting.

BENEFITS

The aim of this program is to instill a life-long passion for stewardship of natural resources in the students. Students develop life skills and responsibility by participating in activities such as guiding other students to compost correctly and taking care of the compost bins and the worms. Weighing the waste teaches students the skills of reading a scale and estimating quantities based on the density of the contents, not solely on the volume. The students are invested in the project and often bring that passion home. If parents approach Melvin with an interest in starting vermicomposting at home, she helps provide them with the right materials: the container, worms, a sprayer, and directions. Over the years, Melvin has noticed that more and more families are composting at home because it simply makes economic sense. The student presentations to the community have also influenced other groups and spread knowledge about composting beyond the classroom.

LESSONS LEARNED & NEXT STEPS