Bellevue West High School has created a pilot program to encourage recycling and composting among its student body.
West’s Future Business Leaders of America began the initiative, Project Revitalize.
The community service project will focus on bringing back paper recycling following Premier Waste Solutions, Bellevue Public Schools’ trash provider, decision to stop paper recycling.
Though the team brought back paper recycling in the schools, the main focus is on composting, where the group collects items such as various lunch foods to turn into nutrients for soil.
Baden Brumbaugh, a junior who co-started the initiative, said the idea came from the school’s coffee shop, the Thunderbrew.
“We were looking for cups to be able to use for our drinks and we ended up contacting Larsen Supply Company, and they provided us with compostable cups which also got us into contact with Hillside Solutions — it was like a snowball effect,” he said.
People are also reading…
Following the end of a three-year long FBLA Project Playground at Peter Sarpy Elementary, the group was in need of a new community service project.
“We said, ‘We have this compost sitting in the coffee shop and all these other schools in the metro area are starting to adopt composting, so why don’t we take it one step further and instead of just having composting in our coffee shop?’” Brumbaugh said.
“We got back in contact with Hillside about a few months, and they thought the idea was great.”
Jack Mettin, a senior, said the group began piloting the project in November. The group met with Hillside to see what their options were for recycling and composting.
“We wanted to bring both of those together and essentially by doing that, we wanted to help fund-raise it ourselves,” he said. “We wanted to take it upon ourselves to raise the money ourselves.”
The group also worked with Green Bellevue to try and find grant money to start the project.
“They were doing a grant for any pilot program that was going after making their school a greener place,” Brumbaugh said. “So Gillian Cromwell of Green Bellevue went back to them and said this pilot project basically fits all the parameters we have, how much are we going to give them for this grant.”
The estimated cost for the final months of the 2019-20 school year was about $2,100, and Green Bellevue provided the group $1,146.
“We weren’t expecting that and we’re very grateful,” Brumbaugh said. “I contacted other sponsors for the last bit of that. We got the cost covered without getting the district involved, which was our main goal — keeping it student-led and student-funded for now to make sure that we can really show this is a student-driven initiative.”
The team takes turns monitoring and encouraging students at lunch to use the compost and recycling bins. Then Hillside will periodically come to weigh how much compost and paper is being recycled at the school.
So far, the group said they have almost 40% of student participation in the first week of production.
“We use tons of paper,” Brumbaugh said. “Being able to have paper recycling back tells everybody it’s not getting wasted.”
Leah Larson, junior, said the team has big plans to continue Project Revitalize.
“We want to take the project out of Bellevue West and into the district,” she said. “We’re taking the semester to solidify the project and show the district it works, and it’s beneficial to the community.”
