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Correspondent SOUTH HADLEY Abbe Hamilton loves nature and the outdoors, so helping to preserve the environment is at the top of her to-do list. "To me, working to protect the nature I love is extremely rewarding," Hamilton, a junior at South Hadley High School, said. "The list of things needed to be done to keep the Earth healthy goes on for miles, and the only way anything is going to happen is to start somewhere." As a member of the school's Environmental Club, Hamilton saw a composting program as making a "huge difference" in her school environment. "I think it's the connection I make between what we're doing in our school to the big scheme of environmental conservation that makes it really worthwhile to me," she said, adding, "and the benefit of working with garbage is that it's so easy to see the difference you're making, just by looking at how much less garbage goes into the dumpster each day." The idea came about when the Environmental Club launched its pilot Cafeteria Waste Composting Program during the spring of the 2006-2007 school year. The program was initiated, designed and implemented by students working cooperatively with government officials, custodians, teachers and school staff. Hamilton noted that the project received a technical assistance grant from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, which helped fund the use of biodegradable plates, cups, bowls and trash bags. Student activity funds and the Envirothon Team of the Environmental Club also contributed fund-raising efforts to help support the project. "This pilot project was originally scheduled to last for two months, but due to the overwhelming success of the program, school administrators allocated student activity funds to continue the program through the end of the school year," Hamilton said. During the course of the pilot study, Environmental Club volunteers collected waste stream data to determine cafeteria waste output. The first set of data collected was to determine how much trash was generated by the cafeteria on a daily and weekly basis, according to Hamilton. The data collection effort was supplemented by environmental attitudes and recycling and composting knowledge surveys that were administered to more than 700 students in all science classes. Student survey data was then crunched by a statistics class as a part of a real-life data statistics project. At the end of the two-month pilot, waste stream data measurements were taken. "Students recorded masses for compost, recycling and garbage bins in two cafeterias for three daily lunches," Hamilton said. An analysis of this data determined that the program successfully reduced cafeteria trash production by approximately 75 percent. Hamilton added that a second group of post-pilot program attitudes and recycling and composting knowledge surveys were administered and the data analyzed, once again, by statistics classes. "These surveys showed that students and faculty overwhelmingly supported the program," said Hamilton. Based on the success of the pilot program, the Environmental Club received permission from the School Committee and the high school administrative team to continue efforts into the 2007-2008 school year. Over the summer, the food services director purchased reusable trays to offset the costs of purchasing biodegradable dinnerware. Additionally, the school received notification from its waste hauler, Allied Waste, that decreased tipping fees associated with decreased trash production could be redirected to pay for compost hauling to Martin's Farm in Greenfield. "This reallocation of funds has contributed significantly to the future sustainability of our program," she added. Earlier this year, Whole Foods Market in Hadley donated five percent of its sales on Jan. 15 to benefit the composting program. "It was sufficient to fund our program through next year," Hamilton said. Environmental Club members also helped organize a forum on April 16 at Whole Foods Market to share their composting strategies with other schools across the region interested in the composting movement. "The goal of the forum was to unite all of us involved in composting, from the experienced to the beginners," Hamilton said. "I think everybody left the forum learning something new from another group's experience. We didn't have time to get into too many specific issues, but the small glimpse I got of the power that comes from so many enthusiastic and knowledgeable people working together for the same cause was all I really needed to see." Hamilton noted that all of the schools who were represented at the forum have expressed interest in either starting a new composting program or retrying one that's already been in effect. "Every school is unique," she said. "Whereas some schools will pursue the connections we made at the forum to improve their composting programs, there are other schools that will first improve their recycling program or even just begin a recycling program." During the forum, Hamilton shared the stage with Jacob Masenior from the South Hadley High School Science Department, and Chris Lukasik, a fellow Environmental Club member. "Thanks to Whole Foods generous donation to our cause through its semi-annual five percent days, our funding is secured through next year," she said. "We hope to use the time between now and then to streamline our program to make it more efficient and minimally expensive. We're hoping that with this improved system we can come before the school board with our case next winter and have a real chance of being funded permanently by the school's budget." Hamilton praised her fellow students and the teachers and staff for their ongoing efforts, and added that 90 percent of the student body composts every day. "Currently, our major goal for the program is to find ways to make the system more affordable and sustainable so that our school budget might be able to permanently support the composting effort," she added. "We're also doing a considerable bit of outreach toward other schools, those interested in establishing a composting program of their own, and schools that have already succeeded in beginning a program. We hope that by connecting with other schools similarly enthusiastic about composting, everybody can learn a little more." Thinking long-term, Hamilton hopes that the program started at the high school will eventually expand into the other town public schools. When Hamilton isn't walking the talk at school, she is recycling everything possible at home. "My parents are just as environmentally savvy as me," she said. "We recycle everything we possibly can. We stopped using our dryer last year in favor of hanging clothes out to dry you wouldn't believe the amount of energy that saves. And I love riding my bike." School administrators interested in more information about South Hadley High School's composting program can contact Hamilton via e-mail at abbethh@yahoo.com. | ||||||
