THE COMPOST PLAN Hayes Pateidl

Action Plan The goal for my compost plan is to use the fruit that is not eaten in the lunch room and turn it into fertilizer that can either be sold to keep the program afloat or it can be put in the gardens around the school to improve the quality of the soil. And all the fruit that is not eaten doesn’t go into a landfill. My plan is to create a hole in an area outside of the school with wooden borders so the composed soil stays where we want it. If the program is successful I eventually plan to have more compost pits. After a few weeks when the compost is ready it can be shoveled and dispensed throughout the gardens of Blue Valley West.

Program Implementation We will put a couple red bins in the lunch room labeled COMPOST. Whenever you buy lunch to get a meal you need a fruit and it can make your meal cheaper and people don’t always eat said fruit people commonly feel bad about wasting the fruit so they might as well throw it in the compost bin that will be the main source for the compost. After the school day ends students will come and pick up the red bins and bring them outside where they are emptied into the compost pits.

Funding The funding for compost is simple all we need is bins, some boards and time and labor. We can start the program with a bake sale or donations. As soon as we have the bins and the hole we want to put it in the lunch room can fund the program and if needed we can bag and sell the compost as an alternate form of income.

Maintenance Maintenance is fairly simple all we need is collectors that transport the red bins from the lunch room to the compost holes and to stir the compost to get oxygen throughout the compost. The bins need to be washed once a week because they will begin to smell. There may be an issue with sorting just in case someone accidently puts trash in the red bin.

Environmental Impact Compost Enriches soil, it helps regenerate poor soil and have micro-organisms like fungi grow. Compost increased the quality of the soil as well it makes the soil need less water that can help West cut down on the water usage at West. Compost can also reduce the need for fertilizer and pesticide which can save money on landscaping and by not using as much pesticide the soil will not be as polluted. The compost process degrades and, in some cases, completely eliminates wood preservatives, pesticides. By using the fruit that is not eaten and other food scrapes that would go into the landfill which takes away from the production of Methane into the atmosphere. It has been proven that the improved soil made by composting can take help with erosion by putting it on hills and roadside we can prevent erosion in those areas.