No Newton school composts its cafeteria waste. Green Newton wants to change that, starting with a pilot project at Newton South High School on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The environmental group is recruiting volunteers for a waste sorting demonstration during "Thrive26," a district-wide professional development day that brings roughly 2,000 Newton Public Schools staff to Newton South, according to Green Newton. The event falls on election day, when schools are closed to students and the entire district staff convenes at one building.
Volunteers would guide staff through separating trash, recycling and compostable materials at lunchtime. Green Newton also plans to divert leftover and unopened food for donation to Newton residents in need.
The group said only a handful of the district's more than 20 schools sort their cafeteria waste or rescue uneaten food, and none compost. "This will be a good demonstration of what is possible," the organization wrote in its volunteer call.
Some Newton schools have run smaller food rescue efforts on their own. At Bigelow Middle School, special education teacher Crista Cavicchio and art teacher Chris LeGare coordinated weekly collection of uneaten fruit during the last school year, according to the Bigelow PTO. Parent Alexander Lee picked up the fruit and delivered it to a Newton North High School student's family, which redistributed it to Newton families in need. An Underwood Elementary School representative also contributed fruit to the weekly collection.
The Nov. 3 pilot would be a larger-scale test of whether waste sorting and food rescue can work across the district. Green Newton framed the demonstration as a proof of concept for the more than 20 schools that currently send cafeteria waste to the trash.
Shara Ertel, a Newton Centre resident who owns the sustainable goods store Fulfilled Goods, is the volunteer contact for the Nov. 3 pilot. Volunteers are needed from about 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and can reach Ertel at [email protected].
