Pinecrest Staff and Students Reaching Out to the Community!

June 18, 2008

The EarthCARE team at Pinecrest Elementary got together in the fall to brainstorm activities for the year and they decided to focus on reducing the waste that went out to the dumpster by improving the garbage in recycling/recycling in garbage and by investigating composting.

Through Marvin Tucker and Quinte Waste Solutions, Ray Best, one of the Prince Edward County councilors in charge of the rolling composter pilot project, contacted the school team. Mr. Best asked if the staff and students would be willing to do some data-gathering (weighing the food scraps before they went to the composter). Everyone agreed that they would and the team then applied for one of the rolling composters.

One of the school council parents suggested the team apply for one of the environmental grants offered by InterfaceFlor. At the end of November, the school received a grant of $350 US. $300 of the grant money was used to purchase the stainless steel lidded compost buckets that Marvin Tucker, had recommended, for all the lunchrooms and some interested classrooms.

Early in March, the Prince Edward County Council notified the school that they had been successful in the application for one of the rolling composters. Two students from the EarthCARE team and Principal Cathy Speedy went to an information session and received the new composter just before March Break.

The next step was to do some education with the students before starting to compost. The EarthCARE team divided up into pairs and went to individual classrooms to talk to the students about composting and the “ins and outs” of our compost buckets. A target date of the first week of April to begin composting was set.

In the first week, 38 lbs. of food scraps was diverted from the landfill! In fact, the staff and students were so successful, they had to temporarily shut down operations, as they had filled the composter in just over 3 weeks. Ray Best is now investigating the purchase of second composter!

According to Principal Speedy “Although this journey has not been without bumps in the road, it is highly successful”.

Great job, Pinecrest!