funding for school cafeteria recycling & composting training...

Funding forSchool Cafeteria Recycling & Composting Training Workshop

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FAQ: “A Change of Habit”School Cafeteria

Recycling and Composting Program

*How to Get Ready *How to Launch*How to Operate*How To Track

Sort cafeteria trash to remove items that can be recycled and composted and reduce the number of trash bags going to the dumpster every day.

Support service learning program managed and monitored by students, with staff support.

Provide tangible educational, environmental and financial benefits for our school.

Bring a focus to our community’s sustainability goals.

Establish our school as an environmental leader, and model importance of sustainable practices for our school community.

Support our school in reaching for the goal of Zero Waste in our waste management strategy.

Goals of Program

Create platform for hands-on learning in STEM.

Support school culture of service learning.

Divert 75% of cafeteria waste from the dumpster. Fewer/lighter trash bags with less leakage to haul to dumpster each day. Result: Improved worker safety and less clean-up.

Reduce frequency and/or weight of trash pickupsfrom dumpster.

Budget savings once program is fully operational.

Increase opportunities for our school to achieve higher level of sustainability, starting in the cafeteria.

Incorporate sustainable principles into best practices and curriculum in the rest of the building.

Synergy with our community’s sustainability goals, including Zero Waste, and the State of Maine’s 50% recycling goal for municipalities.

Benefits of Program

BUTTrash isn’t always Trash

25% of trash = Left-over Food

50% of trash = Recyclable materials

75% = Total percentage of materials that can be diverted from the trash

Q: Why start a recycling and composting program in the cafeteria?

A: Because the cafeteria generates the most trash in the school building.

How To Build Success into the Program from the Beginning

Build in Community Support and

Structure

Create Incentives & Rewards

Address Problems

Build Commitment

Provide Leadership

Motivate

Organize Monitoring

Plan

Training

Build Community Support

Set

Goals

Identify Partners

Planning

Meeetings

Step 1 Before program begins

First Steps

Identify Hauler for Composting Food Waste

Identify Hauler for Recyclables:

Contact trash hauler

Hold planning meetings with school

stakeholder groups

Take Advantage of 3 Opportunities

Service Learning▪ Best approach: Staff create framework for program tasks and

students take ownership through service-learning roles and responsibilities.

▪ Identify best service-learning roles and responsibilities for school. Examples:

1. Monitoring at Sorting Stations during breakfast and lunch.

2. Older students mentor younger students on program training.

3. Special projects for any and all student groups, including Green Team, Art Club, Environmental Club and Student Council.

4. Invite students to create videos, prezis, posters and/or powerpoints to support school-wide training effort.

5. Fulfillment of Community Service Requirement.

Service Learning

Classroom Connection

Get the Word Out

In support of this “Change of Habit” in cafeteria and Service Learning, consider this option -

Develop a Green Code for your school

▪ A commitment to adopt and promote best environmental practices

▪ A set of guidelines to 1) raise awareness in school community around environmental issues and support changes in behavior and practices, 2) bring community together around sustainability practices, including Cafeteria Recycling and Composting program

▪ Launch in-house version that fits your school’s goals or participate in Green School network: Green Schools Initiative, The Greens Schools Alliance, Eco-Schools USA [See Resource Directory]

Service

Learning


Get the Word Out

Students, staff and Administration draft guidelines

for Environmental Code

Incorporate principles of

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Incorporate Environmental Code

into School Handbook

and school culture

Environmental Code Supports

Cafeteria Recycling and Composting Program

Value of Environmental Code


Get the Word Out

Get community’s attention from the beginning.

▪ School and community media

▪ School: Backpack mail, school newsletters, school Facebook pages and web sites

▪ Community: Newspapers, TV and radio, municipal Facebook and web sites

▪ Post regular updates of program results

Service

Learning


Get the Word Out



Identify opportunities to integrate topics of waste reduction, recycling, composting and sustainability into outcome-based curriculum for students.

[See Resource Directory [link]]Service

Learning


Get the Word Out

Meet with Key Staff

Address Staff Questions

Student Ownership of Program

Discuss Training and Monitoring and Set Launch Date

• Q&A to address concerns and impact of “change of habit” on students and staff

• Emphasize importance of staff leadership to model support for program

• Commit to program

• Identify service learning roles, incentives and rewards for students

• Develop plan for student volunteers to help lead training and monitoring efforts with staff support

• Identify best training/monitoring approach for school

• Identify staff to guide training/monitoring

• Determine training/monitoring schedule

• Set Launch Date

Meet with Haulers

Compost Hauler

Recycling Hauler

Trash Hauler

• Discuss responsibilities

• Identify pick-up schedule

• Discuss responsibilities

• Identify pick-up schedule

• Discuss responsibilities and pick-up schedule

• Discuss change in trash management approach and review contract, if appropriate

Meet with Students, Custodial Staff and Food Service Staff

Student Volunteers (e.g., Green Team, Student Council, Homeroom Reps)

Custodial Staff

Food Service Staff

• Q&A about program and Service Learning roles, and student management of program

• Discuss training options and identify best approaches

• Develop Training and Monitoring schedules

• Addressing the “gross factor”

• Discuss program’s impact on day-to-day duties and role in managing program, including troubleshooting steps

• Q&A to address specific concerns

• Discuss program’s impact on day-to-day activities, including collecting recycling and left-over food behind the line, and role in program, including troubleshooting steps

• Q&A to address specific concerns

Collect Data

Step 2 Before the Program Begins

Data Collection

Before Launch

Data Collection

Launch Day

Ongoing Data Collection

Data Collection

Before Launch

• Gather baseline data to compare with post-launch data and track progress

• Trash Audit

• Daily trash bag survey

• Dumpster fill estimate

Data Collection

Launch Day

• Trash bag survey

• Weigh total food waste

• Recycling bag survey


Data Collection

Ongoing

• Trash Audit


• Weigh total food waste daily

• Daily recycling bag survey


What Can be Recycled and Composted in our cafeteria?

What Can be Recycled and Composted in your cafeteria?

Recycle This!Cafeteria Items

Recycle This! Recycle This!

Milk/OJ Container Pre-Pack Container

Cereal Containers Metal Cans

Applesauce Container Any numbered plastic container

Juice Boxes Any cardboard container

Smoothie Containers Paper plates, cups and bowls

Aluminum Foil, Pans, and Containers

Glass bottles and containers

Cooking Spray Cans Paperboard trays (if used)

Note: Adapt this list to match the items in your cafeteria and your hauler’s requirements.

Compost This! Cafeteria Items

Compost This! Compost This!

Left-over Food from Student and Staff Breakfast and Lunch

Food scraps from Food Service prep


Trash This!Cafeteria Items

Trash This! Trash This!

Plastic containers without numbers

Plastic sandwich bags

Styrofoam bowls, cups, plates and trays

Plastic wrap

Plastic straws Mustard, mayo, ketchup, salad dressing packets

Plastic sporks, spoons, knives and forks

Wrappers for granola bars and other snacks

Chip Bags and other snack bags

Napkins, paper towels and kleenex

Plastic wrappers for crackers, bagels, cheese sticks, and croutons

Capri Sun pouches (if your school does not work with TerraCycle)


Set up Sorting Stations

Collect Needed

Equipment


Liners

Gloves, Sieves & Tongs

Signs

Bins and Buckets

Color-Coded Buckets and Bins in Sorting StationAdapt bucket and bin colors to meet your school’s needs.

Five (5) or six (6) color-coded collection units.

1) 5-gal. White plastic bucket for leftover liquids.

2) Blue recycling Tote with liner OR Metal folding frame and clear bag for recyclables.

3) Barrel container with hole cut in top for redeemable cans/bottles (optional).

4) Grey Trash barrel with liner for trash.

5) Green 10-gal. Bucket with liner for left-over food.

6) Blue Bin for stacking trays.

Collect Needed

Equipment

Other Equipment Needs

*Sieve for Liquids Bucket

*Long-handled tongs for removing items from bins

*Rubber gloves

*Aprons to protect clothing

*Spatulas to scrape food from trays

*Hand sanitizer

*Liners

Collect Needed

Equipment

Determine number of Stations needed.Set-up per number of students per shift:Elementary students: 20 - 40 per stationMiddle school students: 30 - 50 per stationHigh school students: 40 - 60 per station

*Maintain smooth traffic flow

*Locate containers for Recycling and Food Waste behind Food Service line.


Place sieve in Liquids Bucket to catch anything other than liquids (straws, soup noodles, etc.).

Use tongs to take out items that are in the wrong bins.

Collect Needed

Equipment

Determine number of Stations needed to maintain smooth traffic flow

Set-up per number of students per shift:

*Elementary students: 20 - 40 per station*Middle school students: 30 - 50 per station*High school students: 40 - 60 per station

Locate containers for Recycling and Food Waste behind Food Service line.

Collect Needed

Equipment

Locate Station(s) to fit cafeteria layout and traffic flow

*Along the walls*In the middle of cafeteria*Or both


Use same color buckets and bins in each sorting station for “visual cues.”

Use same buckets and bins in same order every day to avoid sorting confusion.


Set up back-to-back Sorting Stations so students can sort from both sides.


Make “visual reminder” signs for each bin to show “what goes where.”


Post signs on wall above Sorting Station or post them above Station located in middle of cafeteria.

Consider using free-standing sign holder to display posters.


Remove all trash barrels from cafeteria area except for barrel(s) in Sorting Station(s).

If students eat in room(s) other than cafeteria, determine central location(s) for Station(s).


If cafeteria is multi-purpose, identify storage area for Sorting Stations between meals.


Many schools have built rolling platforms to move bins quickly in and out of cafeteria.


Use Blue Bin or tower to stack trays to save liners.

After meal, move trays to Trash or Recycling as appropriate.


Train School

Community


Kick-off Assembly and Program Announcement

*Hold all-school assembly to announce start-up of program *Outline the Why and How of “change of habit” *Set up Sorting Station for demo*Introduce Service Learning roles*Address the “gross factor”

Train School

Community

Use best training approach for each grade:

*Grade-by-grade assembly*Training prezi (grade appropriate)*Hands-on demonstration*Sorting game *Homeroom presentation by teacher or student*Combination of above approaches

To model support for program, train all staff

Train School

Community

Day-to-Day Management and Troubleshooting

Name In Charge of

Contact Information

Back-Up (if not available)

Circulate list with Names, Contact Information and Responsibility (and Back-up person) for day-to-day management and trouble-shooting.

Include staff, students and haulers.

and the first weeks…

It’s Launch Day!What happens on the first day?

Daily Reminder AnnouncementsPost Monitors at Sorting Stations

Daily data reports to show progress

and motivate commuity

Identify immediate problems during

Week 1 and 2

Run Training Prezisin cafeteria and on

school websiteQuestions to ask from the beginning:

1. Is more training needed?

2. Are problems being reported and solved?

3. Are we collecting data on our progress?

4. Do we need more pick-ups?

5. Do we need more monitors?

6. Are we getting the word out?

7. Do students and staff think the program is working?

Hold meeting each week to address problems and

work on solutions

Data Collection

Before Launch

Data Collection

Launch Day

Ongoing Data Collection

Data Collection

Before Launch

• Trash Audit



Data Collection

Launch Day





Data Collection

Ongoing

• Trash Audit





Cafeteria Share Table

Another way to reduce food waste

What is Maine DOE policy on cafeteria share tables?

Update from Walter Beesley, Maine DOE Dir. of Child Nutrition

Q. Many schools have a sharing table but worry they are breaking some code by doing that. Many schools won't follow this practice at all for that reason. If this practice could be adopted by schools, sharing tables would create an opportunity to cut down on waste.What is the real story?

A: A product that is sealed, milk, fruits once served to a student are the student’s property. They cannot be returned to the kitchen per Maine Food Code. Many school utilize a sharing table that is not managed by Food Service. Products that are sealed can be offered to other students at no cost. Open items must be discarded.

Oranges and bananas are example of acceptable fruit. Apples and pears are examples of questionable fruit because the student eats the peelings.

After Program Begins

Day-to-day Tasks

Administration and Staff

▪ Identify contact for in-house problem solving.

▪ Maintain monitoring schedule for ongoing success.

▪ Work with students, Custodial and Food Service Staff and Haulers to address any problems.

▪ Work with Haulers to set pick-up schedule.

▪ Post data results (school website, Facebook and newsletter).

▪ Create incentives and challenges, and set short-term goals to engage and motivate school community.

▪ Ask for feedback from staff/students after launch. Make adjustments as needed.

Day-to-Day Tasks

Custodial Staff

▪ After breakfast/lunch, empty and rinse out Liquids Bucket.

▪ After breakfast/lunch, empty contents of Food Waste Bucket into Green Food Waste Tote (re-use or discard plastic liner). Cover food waste with layer of newspaper.

▪ Before each meal, make sure each Sorting Station has: 1) Clean Liquids Bucket, 2) Empty Blue Recycling Tote (with liner) or empty recycling bag in metal folding frame, and 3) Empty 10-gallon Green Bucket with plastic liner for Food Waste.

▪ Store Blue Recycling Tote/bags of recyclables and Green Food Waste Tote until designated pick-up day.

▪ Put Blue Recycling Tote/bags of recyclables and Green Food Waste Tote out for pick-up according to agreed-upon schedule.

▪ Report any problems promptly to Principal and designated trouble-shooter.

Day-to-Day Tasks

Cafeteria Monitors

▪ Posted at Sorting Stations to reinforce training, answer questions about How-To-Sort, and identify problems that need solving.

▪ Report problems promptly to Principal, Custodial Staff and designated trouble shooter.

TIP: Monitors wear gloves and aprons as needed. They use tongs to remove any items placed in the wrong bin and keep the area around the sorting station clean.

Day-to-Day Tasks

Compost Hauler

▪ Works with Administration and Custodial Staff to set appropriate pick-up schedule and to resolve any problems with pick-up.

▪ Responsible for pick-up of full Green Food Waste Tote and drop-off of clean Tote according to agreed-upon schedule.

▪ Communicates any persistent problems with contamination (non-food items mixed in with Food Waste).

▪ Provides volume and/or weight report at agreed-upon intervals.

Day-to-Day Tasks

Recycling Hauler

▪ Works with Administration and Custodial Staff to set appropriate pick-up schedule of recyclables and to resolve any problems with pick-up.

▪ Responsible for collecting recyclables according to agreed-upon schedule.

▪ Communicates any persistent problems with non-recyclables mixed in with recyclables.

Day-to-Day Tasks

Data CollectionOngoing

Data Collection

Before Launch

Data Collection

Launch Day

Data Collection

Ongoing

Data Collection

Before Launch

• Trash Audit



Data Collection

Launch Day





Data Collection

Ongoing

• Trash Audit





Uses for Data▪ Track progress

▪ Create incentives for improvement

▪ Set goals and rewards for community

▪ For review of hauling contracts

▪ For grant applications

▪ “Trash = Money”

Incentives & ChallengesGoals & Rewards

Incentives & Challenges, Goals & Rewards

*Identify incentives, challenges,

goals and rewards that

match community

CHALLENGE TO BE THE BEST

*Homerooms

*Lunch Shifts

*Grades

*Schools in District

REWARDS

*Gift Certificates

*Fulfill Community Service Requirement

*Pizza/Ice Cream Day

*Golden Recycling Bucket

*Service Learning Award

SET GOALS

*Reduce number of trash bags

*Eliminate one dumpster

*Collect contaminant-free compost

*Engage community with results

Motivate Community

and

Encourage Success

Incentives and Challenges

Problem Solving:What are

common barriers to success?

Common Barriers and Possible Solutions

Worries about Odor

▪ Increase number of pick-ups per week.

▪ Keep containers rinsed out. Use liners as needed.

▪ Keep lids closed on all bins when not in use and keep bins out of sun prior to collection.

▪ Remove Food Waste Bin from cafeteria after every meal and empty contents into Green Food Waste Tote. Store Tote until pick-up.

▪ Place newspaper on top of each new layer of food waste in Green Food Waste Tote.

▪ Empty Liquids Bucket after every meal.

▪ Bag up recycling after each meal and move to storage area until pick-up.

Not Enough Money for Equipment

▪ Approach schools and Public Works Departments in area for cast-off containers and bins.

▪ Approach PTO/PTA groups and local businesses for funding/sponsorship.

▪ If community is ecomaine partner, submit grant for funding.

▪ Hold district-wide bottle drive or other fundraiser.

▪ Collect CapriSun pouches to raise money through TerraCycle.


Can’t leave bins in cafeteria between meals

(cafeteria is multi-purpose)

▪ Store bins in an area (closet, storage room, hallway) adjacent to cafeteria.

▪ Build rolling platform to move bins in and out of cafeteria quickly.

Need more room for Recycling and Compost Collection Bins

between pick-ups

▪ Increase number of pick-ups per week.

▪ Store outside. Designate area on delivery ramp or other location for bins, and secure bins if necessary.

▪ As trash volume decreases, replace trash dumpster with recycling dumpster.


Training Students, Teachers and Staff

▪ Gather ideas from each stakeholder group (students, staff and faculty) to identify best training approach for school community.

▪ The lower the grade, the smaller the training group, and the more hands-on the approach.

▪ For K-5, training prezi, sorting game, hands-on walk through and Q&A, led by teachers and/or students.

▪ For 6-8 and 9-12, ask for student volunteers to go to each homeroom to introduce training prezi, conduct hands-on demo/sorting game and Q&A.

Adequate Monitoring

▪ Set up Service Learning schedule for students to sign up to serve as monitors.

▪ Provide incentives/challenges for participation.

▪ Include monitoring as option to fulfill your school’s Community Service requirement.

▪ Each homeroom signs up for weekly monitoring shift on a rotating schedule.


Student Buy-In

▪ Bring together Student Steering Committee (Green Team, Student Council, and/or representatives from each grade) to discuss launch of program, and identify best training approaches for school community.

▪ Invite allstudents to make announcements, posters and videos to promote program.

▪ Include training and monitoring roles as one of the options for your school’s Community Service requirement.

▪ Connect students with other school programs to get advice on how to launch and operate.

Custodial Staff Buy-In

▪ Hold separate meeting just with Custodial Staff. Discuss impact of program on their day-to-day duties, including benefits associated with less trash to haul, and answer any specific questions about their day-to-day role in managing program and troubleshooting steps.

▪ Invite composting and recycling haulers to meeting to answer questions.

▪ Stay in communication regularly, especially during early weeks of program, to address questions and problems.

▪ Connect staff with other school programs to get advice on launch, operations and trouble-shooting.


Food Service Staff Buy-In

▪ Hold separate meeting just with Food Service Staff. Discuss the impact of program on their day-to-day duties, including collection of recycling, especially and left-over food behind the line. Answer any specific questions about their day-to-day role in managing the program and troubleshooting steps.


▪ Stay in communication, especially during early weeks of program, to address questions and problems.


Teacher Buy-In

▪ At staff meeting, hold Q & A to address any concerns about program.


▪ Discuss goals and benefits of program.

▪ Offer incentives (stipend, school and community recognition) to support staff taking on program roles.

▪ Set up rotating staff schedule for different roles.



Traffic Jams at Sorting Stations

▪ Locate Sorting Stations back-to-back so that students can access sorting bins from two sides.

▪ Agree on dismissal strategies to prevent traffic jam.

▪ For example: Announce that tables will be dismissed soon. Give students time to prepare items on their trays for sorting (removing packaging and opening milk cartons).

▪ For example: Dismiss students one table at a time.

Students eat meals in location(s) other than cafeteria

▪ Identify central locations for Sorting Stations.

▪ Multiple Stations needed.

▪ Eliminate as many trash barrels in area as possible. If possible, locate trash barrels only in Sorting Stations.

▪ Enlist students to create message to enroll community to support sorting and help Staff with bin transport.

▪ Incentive and Reward Program even more important under these circumstances.


Expectation of Immediate Success

▪ Remind everyone 1) To ask questions to learn how to sort accurately and 2) That it will take time for school community to master this “change of habit.”

▪ Post monitors at Sorting Station(s) to answer questions and reinforce training.

▪ Run training videos in cafeteria during meals.

▪ In the beginning, issue daily/weekly/monthly in-house updates of successes to motivate community.

▪ Issue in-house reminders during the same time-frame of steps that need to be improved.

▪ Provide updates in school newsletters and backpack mail to keep families filled in on progress.

Looking Ahead▪ Immediate Challenge: Bring

everyone up to speed on Why this program is important and How to sort accurately.

▪ Long-term Challenge: Achieve success by motivating community to stay invested in program.

The goal: Shift this “change of habit” in cafeteria from a new

program to accepted day-to-day practice that is normal part of school culture.

Keep setting goals to motivate communityKeep

Monitoring

Keep sending out reports on program progress

Offer

Incentives &

Rewards

Training Prezis in cafeteria and on school websiteKeep asking these questions:

1. Is re- training needed?

2. Are problems being reported and solved?

3. Do the data show that we are making progress or slipping backward?

4. Do we need more pick-ups?

5. Do we need more monitors?

6. Are we getting the word out?

7. Do students and staff think the program is working?

Keep Collecting

Data

Saving the Environment

One Cafeteria At a Time

Sort It!

Don’t Trash It

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