From Harford County Public Schools:
Harford County Public Schools (HCPS) was recently recognized by Green Schools at the sixth Annual Green Difference Awards event for its pilot organics and metal recycling program. The HCPS pilot composting program is currently in its fifth year of operation and has expanded to ten school sites.
“We are honored to receive this recognition for our organics recycling program,” said Andrew Cassilly, resource conservation manager for HCPS. “We are very excited that our school system is composting so successfully at this level.”
The school system partners with Waste Management and Veteran Composting to implement the program. Students and cafeteria employees place food waste in large portable bins. Those bins are then collected by the contractor and delivered to an offsite composting facility. Once at the composting site, the material is processed into a rich, renewable compost that is ready for sale to farmers, landscapers and home owners.
HCPS uses the nutrient rich compost to amend the soil on some of their sports fields. This process makes the fields less compact so they are safer for play and reduces the need to use fertilizer for grass growth. To date, the program has diverted an estimated 160,000 pounds of food waste from the land fill. This is equivalent to 336,000 pounds of Co2 emissions avoided in the disposal process. In addition, the program is serving to support the curriculum in our schools. Several environmental science teachers are scheduled to tour the Veteran Compost facility in Aberdeen this fall to gather insights for use in their classroom.
The Green Difference Awards Program is an annual recognition program of Green Schools, a non-profit charitable organization whose mission is to create greener and healthier learning environments. The Green Difference Awards honor and empower environmental excellence, leadership, innovation, and stewardship led in schools and communities. Schools, environmental clubs and individual leaders are honored for their outstanding contributions.