The Coronado High School Emerald Keepers Club “broke ground” on the new school garden and composting facility at the newly reestablished Angela’s Garden on Village Elementary School grounds Saturday. The team assembled and started their first two composting piles under the guidance of Coronado Master Composter Laura Wilkinson.
Reducing food waste is one of a few climate solutions that costs almost nothing but delivers financial and environmental benefits. The average household throws out over $1300 in “food gone bad” every year, which is more than they pay for gasoline in a year according to the ReFed. According to their website, food waste accounts for more greenhouse gas than the entire airline industry.
“I love being able to lead such an amazing project in our community. It’s so fun getting together in the morning with my peers, getting our hands dirty, and making a positive impact,” said Jesse Hill, CHS Emerald Keepers Club Co-President.
The ongoing project will allow opportunity for Coronado students of different grade levels and community groups such as scouts to participate with plots in the garden. The composting element will set benchmarks for sustainability by measuring pounds of food and yard waste diverted from our landfills and calculate emissions prevention metrics.
“It’s been incredible to see these kids work in such a hands-on environment. Watching them learn and problem solve at our site makes me so hopeful for the future of our planet!” said DaniRose Hill, CHS Emerald Keepers Co-Advisor.
The CHS Emerald Keepers Club members will be working with the community to ask for your organic food waste to help build the compost. When the composting process is completed, the rich composted soil will be available for gardening and, once established, to Coronado residents who would like to earn that “blue ribbon” for their garden. EDCO has kitchen composting caddies available at no charge to Coronado residents to keep handy in the kitchen to collect everything from eggshells to carrot tops to fruits and vegetables gone bad (no meat or dairy may be composted but may be dumped into your green bin for EDCO).
Marla Steele, Co-President, CHS Emerald Keepers Club, added “I am so proud of this group of young individuals who recognize how important it is to protect our Earth. It is beautiful to come together with my passionate peers and work to make a change. I have learned so much already and I cannot wait to see the impact this project makes on our school, our community, and beyond.”
For more information about the compost and garden visit www.emeraldkeepers.org. To help fund the garden for the kids, please visit www.coronadogarden.com. All contributions are tax-deductible. To order your own free composting caddy, visit www.edcodisposal.com, go to the Residential Services tab and click Organic Recycling. Scroll down to the “Request a Kitchen Caddy” button.
Be an Emerald Keeper, reduce food waste, compost and/or participate in EDCO’s Organic Waste program.
