Great news! On Monday, October 27, Putnam Avenue Upper School, along with the
K-Lo, will launch Food to Flowers, the collection of food scraps in the lunchroom. These
food scraps go to a compost facility and are made into nutrient-rich soil that will be
used to grow flowers and food. Composting is nature’s way of recycling!
Our school joins the successful compost programs at eight other school buildings, and
it’s the city’s goal to have all schools composting. Last year, 42 tons of food scraps,
napkins, paper bags and biodegradable food service ware from CRLS went in the
compost instead of the trash. Very cool!
Why Compost?
Cambridge schools, households, and businesses compost for several reasons. Composting
helps the city meet its Climate Protection goals since methane emissions from landfills
are 72 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year time frame. It also helps the
city control disposal costs by removing the heavy food waste from the trash. Additionally,
composting transforms food scraps into a nutrient-rich soil amendment (“compost”) that
helps grow food and flowers with fewer herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers and less
water.
Our New Lunchroom Set Up
How will the composting program work?
Each trash area will have five clearly marked containers. When done with lunch students will:
- Place wrappers, plastic utensils and other non-biodegradable items in the gray
trash barrel.
- Pour liquids in the white bucket. Place empty containers in the tall blue bin.
- Place food and dirty paper in the yellow compost barrel.
- Place Styrofoam trays and bowls in the clear bag for recycling.
There will be time to practice before the program begins, and there will be people to help in the
lunchroom for the first week or so. Thank you in advance for supporting the Food to Flowers
program at the Putnam Avenue Upper School. Together, we will be helping the environment!
Questions? Pamela Chu-Sheriff, Assistant Principal, 617.349.7780 x161, Meryl Brott, Recycling Program Manager, DPW, 617.349.4836, or Kristen von Hoffmann, CPS Sustainability Manager, 617.349.6856.