Pender Island School Paper Towel Composting Project Spring Leaves Family Learning Class

Two years ago, we built a three-bin compost system. But our school yard is surrounded by evergreen trees, so we never have enough "browns" (carbon) to mix with our "green" (nitrogen) lunch and snack leftovers.

We realized that our school throws out bags and bags of garbage each week, and a lot of that is discarded paper towels from the many sinks and washrooms in our school.

Since the paper towels are made of unbleached recycled paper, they can't be re-recycled but they're a perfect "brown" ingredient for building soil.

First, we got permission for the project from our principal and our caretakers. Then, we got recycled boxes from our Recycling Centre, labeled them, and placed one near every sink in the school.

At the end of each week, the grade 6/7/8 class takes the food scraps and the paper towels out to the compost bins. Every once in a while, they "water" the pile to make it moist enough to break down.

Our caretakers say they're now collecting fewer bags of garbage each week. The school is saving money on waste removal, and we'll get "homemade" soil for our school garden.