In this week’s episode of Green Scene, students take recycling beyond “reduce, reuse, and recycle” as they collect food and yard waste to be composted and used in their outdoor garden. Each day, following lunch in the cafeteria, students separate lunch trays, milk cartons, fruit and vegetable scraps, and leftover milk into containers. Food waste is transferred to a bin outside, where it is combined with yard waste for composting. Students participated in outdoor cleanup activities and learned about the differences between manmade and natural waste, and which waste can decompose. Henry Elementary is incorporating the project into all areas of instruction, as students read and write about the composting process, use math to calculate decomposition rates, and conduct science experiments.

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