Luxton, Greenway students meet for composting summit

​When students are able to talk and share their ideas with fellow students from other communities and schools, great things can happen—especially in the area of sustainable development.

On Oct. 21, Luxton School student leaders visited Greenway School to talk about their successful composting program.

Greenway LAC Teacher Nic Skrabek said the school is already running a composting program with a small group of students, but is looking to expand the volume of compost collected at the school every day.

“We’ve just started a schoolwide initiative to compost,” Mr. Skrabek said. “We’ve built our composter outside and our LAC students have been running a soft start to the program by trying to compost for every classroom, every lunch program and the staff room. We’re a Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots school so we’re trying to better our community and reduce our waste.”

Greenway is now inviting its Grades 4-6 students to take part in the composting program.

“We’ve invited Luxton’s composting team to come and talk with our students who are interested and tell them what composting is all about,” Mr. Skrabek said. “Our students can hear about it from the perspective of other kids; they can decide if they want to be a part of it and sign up.”  

At Luxton School, student leaders gather compost from classrooms, snack and lunch programs, staff rooms and other areas. They weigh the amounts of compost collected and record data on what people are putting in the compost bins. Compost is shared with community members to use on their gardens, as well as for school grounds and projects. The Province of Manitoba even designated Luxton as an Eco-Globe School several years ago on the strength of its composting program and other education for sustainable development initiatives.

“Anyone can compost and everyone should compost,” said Luxton student Ruth Kuly. “You want to set an example for your classmates, your family, your friends, your community and for your Earth. You’re going to be composting because you want to, not because you have to. Actions speak louder than words, you do your part all the time. You’re going to encourage others to be Earth friendly.”

Luxton students show their Greenway counterparts a pair of posters they use to educate students on what can--and can't--go into a composting bin.

Student Rayna Pawlyk said students collect compost from classrooms during breaks in instruction.

“We usually compost at recess time, because we never really want to interrupt the classrooms,” she said.

Luxton student Chanel Schulz said composting is like making a recipe.

“The compost is sort of like a cake. The compost materials, like fruits and vegetables and all other the stuff you put in is only one part of it. Leaves and newspapers can go in it. The sun and heat you get is like putting it in the oven. All that heat is baking it and breaking it down. And rainwater can go in too, but you don’t want it too much like mud. In two to three months you’ll have amazing soil…that is way better than soil you’d get from a store or package.”

Greenway teacher Nic Skrabek and students look at some nutrient-rich soil generated by composting.

The Luxton students also said that schools should be mindful of possible pests in their composting areas, such as raccoons. This problem can be dealt with in a variety of ways. Greenway has already installed a racoon and skunk proof out door composter, while Luxton delivers their compost to off-site locations; homeowners in the Luxton community arrange with the school to compost the material waste further at their home compost bins, and use the compost for their own gardens.

Luxton students check out Greenway's new raccoon/skunk proof composter.

As for the smell of compostable materials, Luxton students have come to think of the smell as an indicator of the future nutrients that will benefit trees, gardens and the soil in their neighbourhoods.

“At Luxton School, we think compost has a rich smell,” said student Haylee Mutimer. “You may think of it as stinky, but we like to think of it as a beautiful smell.”

Even with the soft launch of its composting initiative, Greenway is collecting a sizeable amount of waste before it heads to a landfill. Through vermicomposting and other methods, that waste is being turned to proverbial gold.

“We’re getting pounds of waste a day that would normally just be buried at landfill,” Mr. Skrabek said. “We’re turning it into fresh nutrients for kids to add to our new gardens and trees that we’ve planted. Now we’ll have something on a larger scale for our gardens as they expand. Less waste, more dirt…it’s working out.”

Upcoming Luxton composting and leadership summit: Nov. 14

The composting presentation at Greenway was a good practice run for Luxton’s leadership students, who will be hosting an upcoming composting and leadership summit at their school. Luxton is inviting student leaders from all other WSD schools to send representatives on Nov. 14, 1 PM to 2 PM.

“We’re inviting all 77 others schools to send one or two of their student leaders to come to Luxton,” said teacher Robert Schulz.  “We want student leaders talking with student leaders and sharing ideas.”