Green Schools Quest Part Two: Reducing Carver’s Waste-Line
Earlier this year, I ventured into uncharted territory for the Green Dining Alliance: elementary school. It was with trepidation (and some terror) that I signed up for US Green Building Council’s Green Schools Quest, a program that pairs sustainability mentors with schools to help them create and implement projects that reduce their environmental impact. This is the second installment of a series of my work with Carver Elementary – click here to read Part 1!
I was paired with Brittany Tate-Beaugard, AKA Miss Tate, an art teacher and actual human tornado who has taken this project to heart, influencing her students, fellow teachers, custodial staff, cafeteria workers, parents, and even her own husband to learn all about waste-reduction!
Brittany Tate-Beaugard, AKA Miss Tate, actual human tornado, flanked by her Green Team.
Brittany’s Green Team is stocked with tiny recycling and composting experts – Green Team membership is coveted among students, who plead with Brittany for the opportunity to be in charge of recycling and composting efforts at lunchtime.
The Green Team at Carver Elementary will out-recycle you any day of the week.
Thanks to our community, we collected over 700 water bottles to donate to the Carver kids, reducing single-use plastic water bottle use and providing an alternative to sugary drinks during the school day. Many of the water bottles were brand new – the ones that weren’t were washed at The Royale, a 5 star Green Dining Alliance Certified restaurant who volunteered their services for our project!
Brittany and the staff of The Royale had a blast washing water bottles for Carver’s students! (We also had a blast eating a delicious vegan meal – and a beer).
We had a few light setbacks – Brittany (and her entire family) came down with mono – but we were still able to put on a Zero Waste Lunch in February, with compostable trays and cutlery. We were able to lock up the trash cans and let the kids take charge of sorting the recycling, composting, and TREX recycling. Nothing went into the trash. It was so beautiful I nearly cried.
LOOK AT THIS KID! He’s a recycling pro.
While the Zero Waste Lunch was a special event, it hopefully caught the attention of those that do the ordering for the school so they know they can find alternatives to styrofoam, which can never be recycled and is a pretty big bummer for the environment. As for their daily waste habits, Carver has dramatically reduced the amount of waste going to the landfill. They were able to quantify that thanks to the help of Earthways Center, who helped them perform several waste audits throughout the year.
Results of Carver’s waste audits before and after composting was introduced.
Brittany has done more than reduce the waste in the lunch room – she saves old bottle caps, water bottles, and more to make artwork, turns old milk cartons into planters, and is generally a waste-reduction fanatic, both in the classroom and at home.
City-scape made from repurposed marker tops. Miss Tate doesn’t mess around.
The submission for our project is due in early March – it will include a short video that summarizes all of the work Carver has done to be a (much) more sustainable school. I’m not normally a competitive person, but come on – we’ve gotta win, right?!
Stay tuned for another update, where I will (hopefully) tell you how we won big in the USGBC Green Schools Quest!
-Jenn DeRose
Program Manager of the Green Dining Alliance and proud Green Schools Mentor for Carver Elementary
