During a regular meeting for the environmental club, its members thought about doing something to promote composting in the school. Previously, they had attempted to do this by collecting cans from trash cans, making posters to hang in the cafeteria, applying decals to the composting bins and announcing composting facts on the morning announcements. Unfortunately, this was ineffective in educating students about how to properly throw away their leftovers, according to the environmental club advisor,         Mr. Marra. When visuals failed to teach, the members resorted to a one- on-one method, in which several students volunteered to monitor trash cans, plastic bins and composting bins as well as teach students how to compost. One of the volunteers, Fatmata Bah, believed that the students would eventually understand how to compost after this event. These volunteers weren’t urged to teach other students without learning for themselves the proper way to compost. According to Laura Piraino, a sustainability educator from growNYC who aims to teach high schoolers the benefit of creating a less polluted world, these volunteers were given training prior to helping out at this event.

“They showed a slideshow about how to recycle. It showed the things that can be broken down like paper and food. All types of plastic would go in the blue pail while the trays and plastic would go in the regular bin,” said Ashley Cole, a senior. Many of the volunteers wanted to help out in order to promote a cleaner environment. “The compost gets collected by a preexisting DSNY facility in Staten Island and then gets recycled back into communities to be used in gardens on Staten Island. If we don’t compost, then all the waste would have to be sent to a landfill all the way in California. This process costs 300 million dollars, but by composting, we would be saving money and the environment,” said Piraino.

This event would be the first step in reaching the environmental club’s goal, which is to make sure that students will compost not only in school but in the community itself. According to Mr. Marra, this is a process of getting students and staff on board. When asked if students would learn how to compost after this event, the president of the club, senior Joseph Richiusa said, “No, the students need to be motivated and it must be easy for them to learn.” According to Emine Akcay, the secretary of the club, one way to improve this event is by doing a demo for the students in the lunchroom. It will help them remember what object to throw in each of the three pails. Adriana Gyamfi, a senior, said, “I feel more people should get involved; it will help to spread the message.”