The war on food waste in schools

These great bins are a little example of how one school is addressing the War on Waste, particularly with regards to their food system and have cut their waste by a third.

I was at this school on the Sunshine Coast last weekend’s attending an AAEE (Australian Association of Environmental Educators) event about cultivating leadership in sustainability in adolescents.

The tour of the bins and new OSCA composting system at lunch was great. They told us that by introducing this bin system and working on changing school culture around waste, in just one term they’ve cut 30 % of the waste that it is sending to landfill. That’s significant and rapid shift. Congratulations Suncoast Christian College.

These bins are modelled on those which have been successfully in place at the Sunshine Coast University for years.

blank

The newly installed OSCA system to process all the school’s biodegradable waste.

blank
Inside the OSCA – plastic contamination is still an issue, but easy to pick out at the end.

The war on food waste in schools is just beginning. Infrastructure like this supports the educational and cultural change efforts and helps to sustain the initiative. The added bonus is the significant amounts of compost that can be created and used in growing fresh healthy food that can go home with the kids, used in their cooking classes.

One Response

  1. Meg
    Meg at |

    Having bins like these in all schools would really help. My child’s school has chickens and a really clear system for food scraps that can be put into the bins and fed to the chooks. The chooks turn those scraps into eggs! Meg:)