Turning the Cafeteria Into a Classroom
- Date: 12 August 2024
Tara Happy at the 2024 Presidential Environmental Education Awards Ceremony
At Hollis Primary School in Hollis, NH, a remarkable food waste prevention program has been thriving since it began in 2022. Serving a rural community with 377 kindergarten through third-grade students, the school has taken significant strides to reduce its environmental impact. With a focus on sustainability, every classroom participates in composting, and the cafeteria runs an extensive food waste diversion program. Supported by a grant from World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the initiative works in conjunction with WWF’s Food Waste Warriors program and aims to eliminate unnecessary food waste and repurpose it for beneficial use. Students have learned that food should never be thrown away, and their efforts have led to over 10,000 pounds of food being diverted from landfills and instead used for composting, anaerobic digestion, and donations to local food pantries and community programs.
The success of this program can be attributed to the dedication of the entire school community, led by the environmental science teacher who oversees the daily operations. Each week, students diligently compost fruit and vegetable scraps, sort lunch waste, and rescue unopened food items to share with those in need. These practices have not only diverted significant amounts of waste but also instilled in the students a deep understanding and commitment to sustainability. In recognition of these efforts, Tara Happy, the driving force behind the program, has been honored with the prestigious EPA Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators. Her leadership and the collaborative spirit of Hollis Primary School have set an inspiring example of how educational institutions can play a pivotal role in environmental stewardship.
To delve deeper into the program’s impact and her journey, we conducted an interview with Tara Happy. Here, she shares her insights on the program’s inception, its challenges, and the remarkable achievements of her students.
Can you describe the outdoor environmental science program you teach at Hollis Primary School?
It is a full-time program that runs year-round, allowing students to experience all seasons. During our lessons, we explore the forests and streams, work in our gardens, build forts, and catch insects. The goal is to develop an overall respect for our environment and the world around us. Even in winter, we bundle up, throw on the snowshoes, and head off onto the trails for our class.
How do you manage to teach young students about sustainability, and what concepts do they grasp?
Despite sustainability being a big word, these young students are capable of understanding the concept of living sustainably and the responsibility they have to take care of the world they live in. Many of our lessons focus on reducing what we use and lessening our impact on the environment. We also repurpose, compost, and recycle what we can. They truly grasp the idea that small actions, like composting a banana peel or sharing an unopened applesauce cup, add up and make a difference.
Can you share more about the food waste diversion program initiated at your school?
The program started in 2022 with the help of WWF. It's amazing to see 100 six-year-olds sorting out the remnants of their lunches into the correct containers. They understand that food is not trash. They empty and recycle their milk containers, collect unopened food to share, and sort out their “trash-trash” from any leftover food. It's all supervised by a few eight-year-olds wearing small blue vests and carrying clipboards. It's simple yet incredibly amazing.
What is the role of older students in the food waste diversion program?
The eight-year-olds play a supervisory role. They ensure that the younger students are sorting their lunch remnants correctly. This not only helps with logistics but also demonstrates leadership and responsibility, reinforcing the lessons of sustainability.
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Smoothies made from leftover food
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Composting at Hollis Primary School
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Using leftovers for guinea pig feed
How has the support from WWF and the Food Waste Warrior program impacted your efforts?
WWF provided not only funding but also crucial support and encouragement, especially during the initial stages. Having easily accessible resources to connect and brainstorm with was incredibly helpful. It allowed us to fine-tune the program and ensure its success. It was truly a group effort involving students, staff, and administration.
How do you measure the impact of your environmental lessons on the students, both in the short term and long term?
We measure impact by tracking how much food we divert from landfills and how much uneaten food we recover and share. In the 2022/2023 school year, we diverted over 10,000 pounds of food waste, sent 7,000 pounds to an anaerobic digester, composted 500 pounds, and saved 620 pounds of uneaten food, equating to $1,339 in savings. We also refilled 17,038 bottles at our water stations. In 2023/2024, we maintained similar results, expanded to include local guinea pig rescues, and held smoothie days to repurpose food. These efforts have ingrained food waste diversion as a standard practice in our school, teaching students that every effort counts.
What advice would you give to other educators looking to implement a similar program in their schools? Have you worked with other schools in your district to expand this program?
My advice would be to start with a small component and add onto the program as you go. An easy first step could be a basic food rescue program designed to save the unopened, perfectly good food that is being thrown away. Non-perishable items are easy to store and rehome, and this is something that everyone can easily support. As you get your first step streamlined and working well, just add in additional components of the program - maybe add in a compost bucket for one or two specific fruit and/or vegetable scraps that frequently are thrown away in your cafeteria. Think of the entire food waste diversion program as something that contains many different components and just add on additional ones when everyone is ready so that it doesn’t become overwhelming or burdensome.
Our food waste program did expand to include the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students who attend the upper elementary school. When the third grade students graduated from Hollis Primary and moved to Hollis Upper Elementary they were fully trained food waste warriors and ready to go! The new environmental science teacher there is awesome and got the program up and running for them and the rest of the school. I hope that this program continues to grow and is able to expand to the middle school as well!
To learn more and get in touch about this program in your school:
For New Hampshire students and teachers in K-12 who would like to see food waste diversion and food recovery happening in their school, please get in touch with Paul Karpawich from Uplfit.org at [email protected]. You can read more about this work and WWF sponsored schools in NH at UpliftNH.org.
For students and teachers in all other states, visit WWF's Food Waste Warriors website.