September 1, 2008

Union District helps San Jose win recycling award

District begins lunch composting

By Carol Rosen
Editor

The cafeteria at Union Middle School was packed last Thursday morning with city politicians, Union District officials, teachers, students and the news media as the send off for San Jose’s first Lunch Composting Program.

Judy Chirco stands with Dr. Jacqueline Horejs, Superintendent of the Union School District.

They all enjoyed breakfast and then an hour-long presentation about the district’s new composing program, which featured Mayor Chuck Reed, Councilmember Judy Chirco and Union District Superintendent Jacqueline Horejs.

Union District students have been actively recycling, but this year, they have added food scraps to the waste the sort into clearly marked containers for waste, compostable and recyclable materials. And, the program will help allow San Jose to reach its Green Vision goal to become a zero-waste city.

Union District is composed of six elementary schools: Alta Vista, Carlton, Guadalupe, Lietz, Noddin and Oster; and two middle schools: Dartmouth and Union. All eight schools will be participating in the program.

Union’s new program has helped make San Jose schools offer one of the best school recycling programs in the nation. San Jose Go Green Schools program will be recognized this month with an award for “Outstanding K-12 School Program” from the National Recycling Coalition.

The award is due in part to expanded school recycling efforts and innovative programs, such as a new lunch composting program. By using compostable plates, cups and utensils, and sending all this along with food waste to be composted, the district will be able to keep most of its waste from going into landfills.

“There’s more to it than building a high recycling rate. Our schools are helping to create a sustainable community in the long run.” said John Stufflebean, director of San Jose’s Environmental Services Department. “The Go Green program is really about developing awareness of resource management and environmental stewardship among students and throughout the student-teacher-parent community.”

After breakfast, the guests were invited to recycle their leftover cups, plates and food. Teachers and district officials wore green T-shirts that said “Go-Green.”

“All schools prepare our children for the future, but Union School District’s Go Green schools are preparing the future for our children,” said Horejs. “We’re proud to be part of San José’s program and hope to see other schools join in the effort.”

California schools produce more than 763,000 tons of waste in a single year (about 4 percent of the total commercial waste). Much of this is organic material, including food waste that can be collected and composted. Students at Union schools will sort their trash into those marked containers for compostable and recyclable materials and waste. Organic materials will be transported to a commercial composting facility.

Since 2005, the Go Green Schools program has connected more than 100 of San Jose’s 300 schools with free recycling supplies and other green resources. The program promotes environmental leadership in K-12 schools through recycling, composting, green buying, green cleaning and pest practices and environmental education.

“Over the last two years, I’ve seen a change in attitude toward waste and wasting in our school,” said Rosa Maria Gordillo-Garfunkel, a parent at River Glen Elementary and part of the school’s Green Team. “The kids recycle at lunch and in their classrooms. The PTA no longer provides disposable water bottles. There is a Green Club and a yearly Earth Celebration. And it all started with a recycling program.”

After the Union District treated its guests to breakfast, they sat through talks about the new program. On stage are a group of sacks labeled as to what will go into them from bottles to cans to composting materials and finally a bag for “other.”

San Jose earned the National Recycling Coalition award for the following efforts: the Union District lunch composting program; providing grants to 45 schools; helping more than 69 schools launch recycling programs and thereby keeping an estimated 442 tons of paper and 372,000 beverage containers out of local landfills last year alone; and for working with the Resource Area for Teachers (RAFT) and 73 schools to use discarded and donated supplies and equipment from businesses rather than turning to new purchases.

The National Recycling Coalition is the largest national nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement and improvement of recycling, waste prevention, composting, and reuse.

San Jose Go Green Schools program received the “International Go Green City of the Year Award” in 2007 from the Go Green Initiative. San Jose Go Green Schools program is part of a broader Go Green Initiative that has fostered similar efforts at schools throughout the U.S., Europe, Mexico, Indonesia, and Africa.

For more information about San Jose’s Go Green Schools Program, visit www.sanjoseca.gov/esd/schools.