St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School struck gold with the school’s well thought out plan to go green. This school has earned the National Wildlife Federation’s Eco-Schools Green Flag Award twice, and is the only Episcopal school in the country to be recognized as a Green Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education. Compost Crew is proud to partner with St. Patrick’s to collect the school’s food scraps to be composted.
St. Patrick’s has incorporated composting and environmental justice into its curriculum at both its Lower School and Middle School. This gives students the “why” and has encouraged some students to volunteer to be a part of the student Sustainability Team.
Sam Mason, the Assistant Head of Lower School and Director of Sustainability, grew up loving nature, so it comes naturally to him to want to care for the environment. His students are just as receptive and have grown to share this mentality.
I think that Compost Crew is really aligned with our mission, and that’s valuing our community and doing our part. Not just talking about it but actually doing it. This is who we are.
-Sam Mason, Assistant Head of Lower School and Director of Sustainability
St. Patrick’s strives to combat both food waste and food inequity. First, edible leftover food goes to the U.S. Food Rescue. In addition, families in the community bring frozen leftover food to non-profits like Charlie’s Place, an organization that helps people in the community who are experiencing homelessness.
When it comes to feeding its students, St. Patrick’s tries to minimize waste in the first place. The cafeteria has reusable bottles of condiments and salt and pepper shakers instead of single-use packets. The school also opts for compostable plates, cups and cutlery for those disposable items.
Students and staff have recycling, composting and trash bins to dispose of materials. They generally collect nearly 900 gallons of cans per week and St. Patrick’s has capacity for 765 gallons of food scraps at their combined campuses.
Tips from St. Patrick’s:
- Use distinct color bins for each type of waste.
- Use unique lids for all of your waste receptacles. The trash receptacle should have a much smaller opening that makes it difficult for people to throw away unnecessary waste.
- Take pictures of common items that go in the compost bin and post them nearby, for instance, if a school often has apples and pizza for lunch, post images of apple cores and pizza crusts!
These tips will help students and staff think twice about what waste goes in what bin and ultimately where their waste will end up.
Since 2019, St. Patrick’s was the first school to facilitate visits to recycling facilities including the Prince George’s County Composting Facility where students have the opportunity to see where the food scraps go and how they are processed on a large scale. On the school premises, the school composts a small portion of its scraps using tumblers.
The school garden benefits from the finished compost, a nutrient-rich soil amendment. This 4,000 square foot school garden, fundraised by students and staff, is tended by Love and Carrots, an organization that offers affordable garden care for business, non-profits and more. Students happily spend a lot of their time exploring their garden.
The first step is loving nature, the next is wanting to protect it.
The community joins St. Patrick’s during events where volunteers tend to their garden, plant trees and much more. Students are lucky to be in an institution like St. Patrick‘s that believes in the future of their planet.
By: Carlye Brooks
