Compost Education Program

Lansing School District

Since 1997, Michigan Energy Options has worked closely with the Capital Area Recycling and Trash (CART) to provide compost education programs in Lansing Schools. These programs introduce and reinforce the concepts of recycling and sustainability and provide a better understanding of our waste cycles and how food waste fits into the picture. 

Forest View students and teachers adding worms to their new bin

Our compost education program delivers its message using worms. Worms provide an interactive way for children to learn the concepts of recycling food waste that we would normally throw away. Our yearly compost education program includes 85 worm presentations given in K-8 classrooms. Students build a working worm bin and learn about how worms “eat our garbage” and recycle it into rich compost that can be used to grow more food in the school’s garden or maintain the grounds and landscaping.

A follow up visit occurs a few months after the initial presentation, allowing the students to explore how the bin has changed, and how their worms have been working hard on the added food scraps. The “food web of the compost pile” is introduced, and the class gets to see some of the organisms that help the worms turn food scraps into compost!

Observing the Cumberland worm bin

Each year the program reaches over 1,000 students, with over 2,000 students and 50 teachers participating in the 2010-2011 school year.

In addition to the in-classroom presentations, the compost education program also works with six elementary schools to coordinate their mid-scale vermicomposting programs. Participating schools include Cumberland, Averill, Post Oak, Woodcreek, the Beekman Center, and most recently, Forest View Elementary. Each mid-scale bin can process hundreds of pounds of cafeteria food waste per year. Students assist in collecting the food scraps, weighing the amount and keeping weekly records of the food waste collected. During the 2010-2011 school year, over 1,500 pounds of waste were fed to the worms instead of sent to a landfill!

To learn more about this program, or to host a classroom presentation, please contact Becky Jo Farrington at (517) 337-0422 ext. 1303.