Big Green Head Launches Pilot Recycling Program, Reducing Waste Headed to Landfill by 80 Percent

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Nov. 26, 2013 - PRLog -- Today, Big Green Head, a company helping businesses, schools and communities set goals to reduce their impact on the environment, announced its pilot recycling program at Evening Street Elementary School has resulted in an 80 percent reduction in waste going to the landfill.

Launched in spring 2013, the program involves students recycling their lunch trash and composting leftovers. Evening Street’s cafeteria waste went from an average of 7 bags of landfill waste each day to 1.5, meaning an 80 percent reduction in waste to landfills. By the end of a six-week test period, students had diverted 2,950 pounds of waste from going to landfills. The food scraps collected from the students were taken to a compost facility to become nutrient-rich soil.

“In just six weeks, the students had fully caught on to the process, and the cafeteria went from 7 bags of waste to just over one,” said Karen Ferris, title, Big Green Head. “Our hope is to expand this program to more schools and organizations across Franklin County. Bringing the program to schools is a terrific opportunity to teach our future leaders to be conservationists by being mindful of the impact their choices have on the environment.”

According to TheLunchBox.org, the typical American school child generates 67 pounds of discarded lunch waste per school year, resulting in more than 18,000 pounds yearly for the average-sized elementary school.

“Students caught on in a matter of days,” said Mary Rykowski, principal, Evening Street Elementary. “They know they’re doing something good for the environment, and this process opens the door to that conversation.”

Parent volunteers supervise the process, but kids are responsible for putting their leftover food in the composting container and sorting their trash into the appropriate recycling bins. All grades at the school, from kindergarten to sixth grade, participate in the program. The school has more than 500 students.

About Big Green Head

Founded and based in Worthington, Ohio, Big Green Head is on a mission to educate and inspire organizations to “do green” every day, one step at a time. Big Green Head helps businesses, schools, communities and events set goals to reduce their impact on the environment.  Working as a "green counselor" to assess the type of waste and pollution produced by an organization and work with them to create a plan to reduce or eliminate it, Big Green Head helps them set small, attainable goals, track your progress, and celebrate their successes along the way. For more information, visit http://www.biggreenhead.com, “Like” us on Facebook (insert link), or follow us on Twitter @biggreenhead.