The Kendall National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) is spearheading a new composting program in 2021. Partnering with a local business, Impact Earth, students are incorporating composting procedures into lunch times at Kendall Junior/Senior High School (JSHS).
With the help of Impact Earth, NJHS students participated in a waste assessment. They discovered that the JSHS produces 230 pounds of total waste in a day. More importantly, they found that about 49% of that waste can be diverted into composting or recycling. This number highlights the impact that NJHS members can make on a daily basis with the new composting program.
NJHS members are excited about leading their school in a conservation effort that will impact the community’s trash production. Each day, members travel between lunch locations in the building with green buckets, educating students about how to separate their trash. They explain what is compostable and what is not, and how to make composting a regular routine. Kendall students can compost any type of food, from fruits and vegetables to sandwich crusts and chicken nuggets, along with napkins and other paper products soiled by food.
Impact Earth picks up materials from the JSHS weekly, bringing it to their enclosed composting facilities, where it is monitored and turned daily. Twice a year, they will give rich compost dirt back to the school.
Emma Quintern, a two-year member of the NJHS, commented, “This program is a leadership opportunity for NJHS members. My peers and I will spark change amongst the other schools in Orleans County, and hopefully, Kendall will become a pioneer for other small schools in other counties and states. Our composting program should reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills.”
