Starting this school year, compost bins are no longer available on campus, which was a decision made by the district administration because of budget cuts. Composting services were just one of the many cuts in an attempt to squeeze into this year’s budget shortfall.
“I was surprised, and I wish that we had been involved in the decision,” Principal Adam Desautels (he/him) said. “I think it’s really important to teach kids about how to dispose of waste.”
Leftover food makes up 20-30% of landfills. Composting properly not only takes food scraps out of landfills, but also provides resources that benefit the environment, such as fertilizers. Effective waste management also eliminates the need to build new landfills and encourages sustainable practices.
Assistant Principal Shawn Rainwater (he/him) said Inglemoor used to pay $300 per month for composting services. NSD covered this cost for their schools that had composting services.
“That’s the hard part about cutbacks: you inevitably are going to cut things that you really value,” Rainwater said. “So you just have to make some hard decisions.”
Rainwater said he has mixed feelings about the district’s decision. While he believes composting is important, he understands that when there’s less money, something has to be cut.
However, others are less supportive of the district’s decision. Former Earth Corps advisor and science teacher Suzanne Black (she/her) said the district could’ve handled the situation differently.
“I mean, there has to be a solution,” Black said. “When times get tough, you can’t just abandon green practices. Not today.”
Black said there was a lack of communication between the district and Inglemoor regarding this decision. She wished the district consulted Inglemoor before making a decision that affected them.
“It seems like they could have just dropped Earth Corps an email, ‘Hey, we’re considering doing this. Do you have any other ideas?’” Black said. “It would have felt collegial; it would have felt more like we were part of the process.”
Desautels confirmed that while Inglemoor’s administration was aware of the composting cut back, they were not involved in the decision. Black said that since these are big decisions, the district and the school should work together.
When Black was the Earth Corps adviser, the club put a lot of effort toward starting a composting program at Inglemoor. She said it’s upsetting that it’s gone now.
“I mean, it took years to get Northshore to finally agree to do composting, and now it’s just poof, gone,” Black said. “It’s really frustrating.”
Regarding short-term solutions, Rainwater said that Earth Corps has been trying to write a grant to fund the composting service.
“I hope that once we get through this budget issue — the shortfall — we can reinstitute it,” Rainwater said. “So that’s what I’m expecting or hoping, but nobody’s promised that.”
