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Overview
The following report outlines the implementation and continuation of the Road to Zero Waste program, an initiative that educated SDUHSD district students on waste management and replaced SDUHSD district schools’ non-compostable nutrition services items with those made of compostable plant fiber materials. The Road to Zero Waste program reduces the high volume of waste that is produced by current nutrition services materials distributed to the students. Funds acquired through grants have supported the middle school student body in building lasting sustainable behaviors that benefit their vulnerable coastline community.
The report analyzes the impact of Road to Zero Waste’s actions (compost sorting, compostable materials) on waste reduction and the environment, specifically for SDUHSD students. Findings suggest an increase in waste sorting knowledge, as well as financial implications for compost vs. trash. The report will further analyze what this meant for the environment, and actions that were to be taken to heighten awareness and results.
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Introduction
Go Greenish is made up of students across the SDUHSD district. Over the past few decades, we have noticed our community has worked to recover from environmental degradation in our lagoons, bluff collapses, and rampant stormwater pollution, all impacting residents’ quality of life and the health of our pristine beaches. Teaching students how to be responsible recyclers and composters plays a vital civic role in preserving the beauty of our town. By educating students on the importance of sorting their waste, we’re not only diverting carbon emissions from the landfill but also fostering a lifetime commitment to environmental stewardship. For students from these areas, environmental justice is particularly relevant; pollution and environmental destruction often disproportionately impact lower-income communities. Thus, the purpose of this project is to equip students from all backgrounds to advocate for environmental responsibility and community well-being.
To address this issue, we implemented the Road to Zero Waste program, an initiative that replaced SDUHSD district schools’ non-compostable nutrition services items with those made of compostable plant fiber materials and educated schools across the district through school-wide presentations. The Road to Zero Waste program reduces the high volume of waste that is produced by current nutrition services materials distributed to the students, and seeks to educate students on waste sorting.
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Actions Implemented
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- Assemblies
Throughout the 25-26 school year, we held five grade-wide assemblies (one for each grade in the Fall, one for each grade in the Spring) where SDUHSD high school students taught students how to sort their waste. High school students combined the importance of diverting waste from the landfill and making the assemblies engaging through incentives and rally-style games. Through Kahoots, waste sorting games, and informative waste sorting lessons, these assemblies educated students about our program and measurable actions. The goal of the fall presentation was to educate students about the Road to Zero Waste program and its objectives. The goal of the Spring presentation was to reflect on the program and the takeaways from the student body. Both assemblies will contain surveys to measure individual success.
Overall, we presented to nearly 1,000 students, held 5 school-wide assemblies at Earl Warren, and had measurable, concrete results from our presentations (see section IV). We are planning to expand our audience in the upcoming school year, holding presentations at middle schools such as Pacific Trails, Carmel Valley, Dieguenio, and Oak Crest.
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- Green Team
The Green Team, a student leadership team dedicated towards the sustainability of waste management at Earl Warren, was enlisted to staff “waste stations.” The Green Team workers were trained by Go Greenish high school students and recruited during our fall presentation. Through labs, peardecks, and monthly lunch meetings, the students in the Green Team became more educated in waste stations and correct sorting.
Overall, we have expanded our efforts to implement Green Teams across SDUHSD campuses. With a Green Team at Earl Warren, Pacific Trails, and Oak Crest, Road to Zero Waste is able to expand past school-wide assemblies and involve active, eager middle school students in the waste sorting process this upcoming year. We are still expanding our Green Teams into schools like Carmel Valley Middle School and Dieguenio Middle School.
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- Materials
One component of Road to Zero Waste was introducing compostable materials to SDUHSD. Previously, nutrition services provided non-compostable, plastic materials for breakfast and lunch. Because of the pollution and microplastics associated with the plastic utensils, we hoped to reduce the pollution through our introduction of different nutrition materials. With approval from EDCO, with support from BCK, the district administration, the city, and nutrition services teams, we were able to bring new, compostable materials across SDUHSD, including both middle school and high school campuses. These materials included compostable forks, knives, and spoons, as well as wax paper bags and compostable bowls to replace the undegradable containers that had been previously used.
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- Matter on the Move Lab
This year, we introduced an interactive Peardeck called Matter on the Move. This lab, created by a team of Go Greenish students, was a twenty-five slide presentation made to educate students about trash-based pollution. Through an educational video, interactive drag-and-drop games, and multiple-choice questions, students were able to deepen their understanding about trash sorting and waste management, as well as the consequences for failed waste sorting.
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Impact Analysis
To assess the effectiveness of Road to Zero Waste on student’s waste sorting abilities, we conducted waste audits in the fall and the spring. Our waste audits involved sorting through one compost, trash, and recycling bins from each SDUHSD campus. We categorized the waste based on their actual versus expected bins, where we gathered:
Through our waste audit (see above) at EWMS, we gathered that:
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Sorting accuracy in the fall vs. the spring increased from 56.1% to 59.3%, to a total of a 3.2% increase.
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Compost accuracy in the fall vs the spring increased from 13.5% to 53.7%, with a 40.2% increase
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A reduction of compost left in the trash, a common mistake, occurred
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Recycling contamination decreased by 9.7%
Therefore, Road to Zero Waste, through the compostable materials and informative assemblies, had positive results on Earl Warren Middle School. With an increased sorting accuracy, we can gather that our school-wide presentations influenced the student’s decision making and waste choices. The students also improved their composting significantly, which indicates the effectiveness of Road to Zero Waste. Another reason for the increase in composting is because of the new compostable materials, which steers students away from trashing their school lunches and instead, composting them.
Interestingly, these results have strong financial implications. Composting is much less expensive than landfilling, and in San Diego, compost collection fees are at no cost, contrasting the $33.66+ per month fees for one traditional trash bin. With each school having at least 50+ trash bins, this would save each campus at least $2,000 a month, which significantly benefits SDUHSD. Therefore, a 40.2% increase in compost accuracy, as well as the introduction of compostable lunch materials, demonstrates that at Earl Warren, organic waste was diverted away from landfills, overall reducing environmental damage and trash disposal costs by over $18,000 per school year.
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Conclusions
Overall, Road to Zero Waste has been a highly successful program implemented by Go Greenish. Starting in 2025, Road to Zero Waste has spread across the SDUHSD, impacting students and their environmental awareness from all campuses. Through results and data collected from waste audits, we have seen how our waste sorting programs, introduction of compostable materials, and school wide assemblies have influenced the students’ decision making for waste sorting.
The effectiveness of Road to Zero Waste, measured through waste audits and school-wide surveys, is pivotal, as it not only benefitted the environment, but also provided financial relief for participating schools. Thus, as we continue to expand the Road to Zero Waste program to additional schools and its scale, we hope to educate more students from SDUHSD to benefit the environment and their climate awareness.
