Community Composting

The children each put a handful of wilted spinach leaves into the center compost bin. Gabriela Munoz, part of Roots & Wings compost team, showed them how to take dried leaves from the right bin and cover their food scraps. She also pointed out what was in the left bin: decomposed material that looked a lot like good soil. 

"That's what will happen to your banana peels, clementine peels and uneaten bagel," she told the little group from Days of Wonder, a childcare program located on South's campus. Teachers Luke and Jordi learned, too, and were tasked with sharing the news to the other classes.

The lesson was a step towards Roots & Wings' goal of having all groups that use South Church's campus compost their food scraps, rather than add them to the waste stream. The vision grew out of the recent Composting Conversations--a how-to evening that grew into a think tank of ways to move the dial on local composting. 

"This are your compost bins," Lenore, a Roots & Wings steering committee member, told the students. "They are for you and your families to use, as well as your school."