In order to engage students and the entire HCST community in making our district as environmentally sustainable as it can be, students sort their waste into recycling, landfill and food waste. This composting initiative was kicked off this past summer by Environmental Science student John Kubowics and Culinary Sciences Academy Supervisor, Samantha Doria. The hard work of our students has allowed the Maintenance Staff to finally use the trash compactor. The food waste is separated from the regular waste, reducing the building's dumpster pickups from once a week to once a month. Thank you to the students for making sure we stay as environmentally sustainable as possible.
As of the beginning of the fall season our community has saved a total of 6,376 pounds of food waste from entering landfills. 560 pounds were turned to soil by using our Rocket Composter on campus and the rest was sent out to The Community Compost Company who composts on their site!
Ms. Doria's student interns are an integral part of the composting team, and this amazing achievement would never have been possible without them! Each day, Senior Environmental Science majors, Linda Sanchez and Emma Dezenzo feed the Rocket Composter food waste from the cafeteria. Senior Architecture major, Makayla Agosto is designing and planning a structure to cover the Rocket Composter from winter snow. The Environmental Science Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors went around to all the homerooms to present this new initiative and gather feedback from the students and staff. Senior Graphic Arts major Riana Wadhwani designed the flyers and social media posts to further educate students in the community. Lastly, BioMed major Ayushi Patel monitors the cafeteria during lunch and assists students in sorting their trash accordingly!