Halton District School Board schools and offices are becoming greener by the bin and doing their part to extend the life of landfill sites.

An increasing number of Board schools and offices are replacing most of their garbage cans for Halton Region’s two-foot-tall, 40-litre green composting carts. More and more staff and students are realizing the high amount of food and paper towel waste generated in our schools and offices and they’re doing something about it.

By adding Halton Region’s GreenCart food composting program, students are learning valuable lessons about how much waste they create and how they can cut it down to make our planet healthier. Waste diversion programs specifically help extend the life of landfill sites, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by improving air quality, and create useful recycling and composting products that conserve natural resources.

As of March 2011, almost half the Board's schools – 48 elementary and high schools – offered composting bins. A dozen more schools could be offering the GreenCart program before the end of the year. It’s up to principals of individual schools to contact Halton Region to establish a GreenCart program.

To reduce the Board’s ecological footprint as a corporation, J.W. Singleton Centre and New Street Education Centre, took a bold step in February and removed trash cans from individual offices and implemented the Region’s composting bins. Halton Region provides the GreenCart and Blue Box program at no cost, but schools and the Board do pay for garbage collection based on tonnage picked up. Fewer garbage pick-ups saves money.

The effect of the GreenCart program is immense. Regional waste audits show schools without GreenCarts are averaging a waste diversion rate of 38 per cent. Schools with GreenCarts are averaging a waste diversion rate of 63 per cent. That means schools using green bins are diverting two-thirds of their waste from the landfill, allowing the food scraps and paper towels to be turned into something useful like rich garden soil.

A big benefit to the composting program is the environmental learning students receive, says Ron Ballentine, the Board’s coordinator of environmental education, science and technology.

“The GreenCart program is connected to learning about the operation of a school and making a school a better place to be,” Ballentine says, adding leadership, community building and responsibility are key skills acquired by operating the GreenCart program. “I think it’s one of the best things we do.”

The GreenCart program and the reduced number of garbage cans helps students and staff better learn how to reduce their waste production, says Suzanne Burwell, the Board’s Environmental Sustainability Coordinator.

“It’s one of those pieces that has so many components,” she explains, adding students learn how they can package their school lunches by using reusable containers.

John Watson, Halton Region’s Waste Diversion Education Coordinator, is ecstatic to see so many Halton District School Board schools and offices implementing the GreenCart program. In fact, according to Watson, Halton Region is the first municipality in Canada to offer a comprehensive GreenCart program to schools. The region currently has more schools participating in the program than any other municipality in the province, Watson says. There are currently more than 100 schools participating in the GreenCart program in Halton.

A comprehensive education program supports the GreenCart School Program, including workshops for students and staff. From September 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010, 165 educational workshops were delivered in 61 schools to 27,456 students. Halton provides schools with posters, stickers, sample PA announcements, newsletter articles and letters to parents, and produces a bi-monthly e-newsletter for teachers.
 
Prinicipals of schools interested in joining the GreenCart implementation schedule should email john.watson@halton.ca. Halton Region will start the school on the program and offer the workshops for all students.