Event Spotlight: ABRHS Green Council Throws a Down and Dirty Party

The Green Council Resource Team is throwing a really trashy party on Tuesday, November 29 at 2:30pm. The Down and Dirty Party is the first step in a major audit of the school's production of solid waste, and the kickoff event for the team’s efforts toward a Green Flag Award for sustainability.

The ABRHS Green Council is a group of students, faculty, staff, and community members who meet monthly to plan for progress towards the esteemed Green Flag Award for sustainability — a national program that challenges schools to reduce their environmental footprint. Among the criteria for the Green Flag Award are a number of building audits, including one for solid waste. The Resource Team is the subgroup working on this effort, with an ultimate goal of harvesting the compostable and recyclable materials currently being disposed of in the trash.

On November 29, the team and other volunteers will “dive in” for perhaps the yuckiest — and definitely the most entertaining — portion of the trash audit: the cafeteria trash! The crew will be fortified with rubber gloves, rain boots, buckets, cameras, and cheering supporters, including and various school and community leaders.

The volunteers will literally dump out and sort through many bags of cafeteria trash to reveal just what gets thrown away, and to measure each component, such as paper, plastic, metal, and food waste. The metrics from this effort will show just how much valuable “trash” is currently sent straight to an incinerator. This will meet some of the many criteria for the waste audit, and demonstrate the volume of resources that could be redirected and reused (through recycling and composting) rather than wasted.

This event will be a mucky blast! Hot drinks and snacks for supporters (and perhaps a few hidden prizes in the trash bags) may be in the offing. Spectators are encouraged, as are intrepid helpers — stop by and witness the madness, or don some combat gear of your own and join in the fun! All that sorting will require a LOT of buckets, so please consider bringing any you can lend, as well as your worst clothes, if you plan to get down and dirty with the crew!

The Down and Dirty Party happens on Tuesday, November 29 at 2:30pm near the dumpsters on the Hayward Road side of the high school (rain date: Friday, December 2, 2:30pm). Please support this effort by cheering on the Green Council Resource Team!