February 2, 2009

Waste Audit Planned for Rutland Senior Secondary

KELOWNA, BC: On Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 9:00 a.m. GreenStep, an environmental consulting company, will conduct a waste audit at Rutland Senior Secondary (RSS) with the help of students from the elementary, middle and secondary levels, teacher Brent Applegath, custodians, and staff from the Operations Department.  Dressed in protective gear, approximately 25 students will sort through one days’ garbage from the secondary school.  Organizers expect to find that much of the material currently going to the landfill could be recycled or potentially composted.  This would reduce the amount of reusable material lost to the landfill and reduce waste transportation costs.

“It’s not just about saving money—it’s the right thing to do,” says Applegath.  “Students care a great deal about the planet they are inheriting.  Several leadership students along with those studying environmental science and social justice are looking forward to being involved in the audit.”

“Some of the students who went to a leadership conference in Prince Edward Island were very impressed with their waste management system,” says Applegath.  “They have almost zero garbage because they have very little extra land to landfill.  We want to model our program after PEI where they have multiple bins labeled to clearly indicate what goes into each one.  The multi-bin design is used consistently across the island.”

“At our school, there is some inconsistency in the bins we do have and it seems that an inordinate amount of material is going to the landfill that could be diverted.  Another issue is mixed plastic so we hope the audit will remind people to look carefully at the symbols and remove lids that are often a different type of plastic from the rest of the container.  It starts with awareness.  By involving the elementary and middle students now, they should be model citizens by the time they are in secondary schools then we will have virtually no litter problems in our schools anymore.”

One of the options suggested by GreenStep is a large-scale composter at RSS and other District sites; the results of this audit will help determine if this is financially viable.   The community garden near RSS would be one beneficiary of compost from the school.

Approved by the Superintendent on February 2, 2009

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For comments, please contact:

Brent Applegath, Teacher, Rutland Senior Secondary, (250) 765-1407 ext. 7113

Grant Davidson, Operations Manager, (250) 491-4011

Mike Roberts, Superintendent of Schools (250) 860-8888

For background information: please contact Lisa Harrison lharriso@sd23.bc.ca or 470-3284.