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| Has anyone set up compost bins at an elementary school?
If so, what issues have you faced? e.g. misperceptions about composting (attract rats or the smell), or problems with controlling what goes in? Our local inner city elementary has an outdoor science education program with a few garden beds, hopefully to expand soon. I'd like to set up some compost bins to use as teaching tools. Just want to be prepared for any naysayers or other problems. |
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| No, I haven't done this personally (although we had them even at my elementary school in the 1980s! I believe we were ahead of the curve. ;-) It was during the first major wave of interest in recycling, which seemed to die down later on but has revived with the new "green" movement.) We composted much of the cafeteria waste - students were encouraged to scrape vegetables into one bin, and everything else into another, and then the vegetable bin was emptied into the compost bin outside, and yard waste was also added. (Yes, not a perfect system when relying on children, but it worked decently.) My thinking is that most schools already have dumpsters, which tend to have a wide array of things added to them. The trash smells from these dumpters are almost invariably worse than any smell from a compost pile which does not have meat products added. If this is the case at your school, that's already one point you can make. Until recently, I worked at a private boarding school. I am aware that the "green movement" and "sustainability" is a huge thing in education - followed with almost religious fervor at many places, even without doing adequate research to support the enthusiasm. So, I actually do not expect that you will have many problems, unless your school system is very behind the times. |
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- Posted by schreber_gaertner (My Page) on Thu, Sep 29, 11 at 20:00
| A friend of mine in Sacramento helps coordinate this one: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sacramento-School-Garden-Science-and-Nu trition/132219063507613 |
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- Posted by lisanti07028 z6NJ (My Page) on Thu, Sep 29, 11 at 21:23
| Our middle school has had a composting program going for a while; they use the compost tumblers, I guess to minimize smells and bugs, as they're right up against the side of the school. |
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| The National Gardening Association has a lot of information about gardening and composting at schools, and even have grants to help. The Texas A & M Cooperative Extension Service people may well have some helpful information. The master gardener program in yuour county may be a source of information. Because of a great deal of misinformation many people believe that compost piles do attract vermin, smell bad, etc. because they haave seen composting at its worst. This link may be of some help, http://www.compostinfo.com/ |
Here is a link that might be useful: Kids Gardening
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| Thanks so much. This is helpful info. I didn't think to ask the TX extension program. I am really excited after seeing this program in Sacramento. Very impressive! This is an inner city school. In theory there is support for "being green" but loads of people who really have no understanding of the concept. It is very behind the times. They don't even recycle :( |
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| That's too bad! I hope that you don't face resistance. It seems that if you start composting with the students, and gardening, not only will you be doing something good for the environment, you'll be teaching the kids about the source of their food, and they might be more inclined to make different choices in their diet when they have a chance. So you could, in theory, also be doing something to help combat childhood obesity. (Can you get the parents involved? I know, that can be a tall order.) |
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| So what city are you in? I know quite a few people in the Dallas area that would love to help I'm sure. And they should know people from other cities. I'll hook you up to the government folks who are trying to educate the public if I can. Unknown to most of the public in Texas there's a movement out there by small parts of city and state government. |
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- Posted by rosiew 8 GA (rosemarywalsh@bellsouth.net) on Fri, Sep 30, 11 at 18:00
| crja, you've gotten tons of great advice. And I picture you in the future starting a recycling program at the school too! shebear - you sound like a great resource for crja. Hope this post keeps growing - and with progress reports. Rosie, a Texas living in Georgia |
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| Another source of information might be Joe Lampls "Growing A Greener World". |
Here is a link that might be useful: Growing a Greener World
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