Autumn is a time for harvesting, picking pumpkins, and composting–even at Westford Academy. In the spring of 2015, the cafeteria pursued a composting initiative and concentrated on giving food waste another life by collecting it and transferring it to a pig farm.  Now, the environmental club will introduce composting to students on Monday, September 14th

“Getting the entire school to compost is our goal for this school year and also in the future,” said president of the environmental club Nancy Wang.

During the summer, Wang and other members  of the environmental club volunteered to build bins that are placed next to the building where the cafeteria entrance is located.  The wooden bins are expected to house the compost while it decomposes.

“The compost will take about a year sitting [in the bins] and it will turn into soil that the community can use.  Some will be donated to places like the Westford Community Garden,” said Wang.

Students will find yellow buckets specifically for composting next to the trash and recycling buckets in the cafeteria.  As to what the students will be placing in the bins, options are limited according to both Wang and advisor Rebecca Ingerslev.

“Students will only be able to place fruit in the bins for now, and hopefully we’ll be able to [increase availability] later,” said Ingerslev.

Wang elaborated that the composting process is complicated, and fruit is the easiest food to decompose.
Vegetables are also easily composted, but oils like those in salad dressing are not easily dissolved. For this reason, students will only be instructed to compost fruits.

Although composting hasn’t been tested before at WA, Wang is confident in her mission to make the school more environmentally friendly.

“Our slogan this year is Green Ghost, and we [hope] to inspire people to be green,” said Wang.