Barrington Students Tumble Food Waste Into Compost

Food waste at Sowams Elementary School in Barrington is being tumbled into compost – and the initiative has spread to Nayatt and Hampden Meadows schools as well.

The results speak for themselves, according to a story on ecori.org.

When Sowams began composting the food waste, the daily lunch-room trash weighed more 70 pounds, said Carroll Garland, the second-grade teacher who leads school’s composting effort.

Last spring, thanks to expanding the composting and recycling efforts at the school, that weight was down to 15 pounds a day — not bad considering the school’s lunch period accommodates some 240 students. 

And the compost usually ends up in the 18 raised-garden beds at Sowams, where food is raised and donated to the East Bay Community Action Program. That closes the food loop. 

See the complete story on ecori.org by clicking here.