Castro Valley High School's 4th Waste Audit

CVHS student and Environmental Commissioner, Esiason Rodriguez, spearheaded the task of organizing Castro Valley High School’s fourth waste audit held on Saturday, February 7th. The audit was conducted as part of CVSan’s Green Ribbon Schools Program. The results of the audit revealed what materials could have been placed in the recycling or organics carts.

The CVHS team of 75 high school students from Leadership, the Smart Energy Club, and others, along with two teachers, and CVSan staff took on the challenge to sort through an entire day’s worth of garbage produced by 3,000 CVHS students and staff.

The determined and enthusiastic group of students sorted through 91 bags of garbage in one hour! In this hands-on learning experience, students found out that of 1,729 gallons of garbage generated from CVHS the Friday before, only 21% was actually garbage, and therefore a total of 79% could have gone in the recycling (30%) or organics (49%).

The waste audit also showed that CVHS reduced the overall garbage produced on campus by 25% compared to last year’s data! This is a successful step in the right direction for a school the size of CVHS and a great opportunity for students to determine additional ways to reduce the amount of garbage, organics, and recycling going into the landfill.

Great job Castro Valley High School for committing to see what’s in the garbage and continuing to reduce waste at school!

Attached are a few photos of the day’s activities, including two special volunteers! In the last photo, CVHS Seniors Alejandro Gonzalez and Jenna Sparks have participated in the CVHS Waste Audit for the past four years since they were freshmen!