Bellwood School District 88 has been deeply committed to its sustainability goals, and now it has launched its fourth Zero Waste Schools (ZWS) program. The launch at Grant Elementary in Melrose Park took place on April 16th, and is the last school within the Cross Community Climate Collaborative (C4) to launch this school year.
To say the launch was a success is an understatement. Grant Elementary went from filling 14 bags of lunchroom garbage per day to filling just one and a half. With a total of 205 pounds of waste produced on launch day, only 18 pounds of it went to the landfill. The rest was recycled, composted, put on the share table, or were liquids that could be poured down the drain. This means Grant Elementary kept more than 90% of their lunchroom waste out of the landfill! ZWS Senior Program Manager, Becky Brodsky, attributes this impressive outcome to the engagement of lunchroom staff and their embrace of small changes that made a big difference.
For example, the lunchroom staff made announcements throughout lunch to help students understand and implement waste reduction strategies. Since only finger foods were being served for lunch on launch day, they announced that utensils would not be necessary unless students requested them. Additionally, they communicated to students in multiple ways that they only needed to choose a fruit or a vegetable, not both, which minimized food waste from unwanted items.
Lunchroom staff also demonstrated how to use the sorting station by explaining what items went in which bins while Zero Waste Schools Program Associate, Rebecca Koshi, held up examples.
In addition to announcements and demonstrations, signage was in both English and Spanish, so all students could clearly understand how the process would work. It was evident to Brodsky, too, that most of the students and staff had seen the ZWS training videos. This preparation and support made all the difference on launch day, when a busy and crowded lunchroom could easily have made the launch more disorganized and ultimately, less effective.
Grant’s successful ZWS launch builds on the growing zero waste commitment within District 88 and other C4 community schools and proves that, with a thoughtful approach and an engaged staff and students, schools can take enormous strides towards less waste.