Composting For Kids-They Can Help Too

We can all agree that composting is extremely beneficial for our environment, but I strongly applaud the efforts of our nation’s educators who are proactive in “composting for kids” campaigns. Teaching such a valuable process such as composting to our kids will inevitably help our environment now but also in the future when they become the adults!

Here is an inspiring post that I came across recently on a city’s effort and their local School Garden Project who joined forces in teaching a workshop on:

The Benefits of Composting for Kids:

The city of Eugene and the School Garden Project teamed up at Adams Elementary last week to give local teachers and parents of local students a crash course on composting.

The workshop was held in support of the city’s recent announcement to build and implement five new school gardens and cafeteria composting programs in the 2011-2012 school year.

The school compost workshop was kicked off by Rachel Sanders of the School Garden Project. Teachers, parents and other community members learned what makes composting a sustainable practice and why school cafeteria composting is important.

The group then moved outside where Adams Elementary parent, Matt Rasmussen, discussed his involvement in the program and how the composting actually works. This provided teachers at other schools an opportunity to ask questions about their own compost program and procedures.

The mulch created by the Adams Elementary composting program will be used in the school’s garden. Students will have a hands-on role in the composting process.

“The best thing about this program, is watching the kids get excited,” said Anne Donahue, a compost specialist with the city of Eugene. “They are so young and small that to watch them get excited about helping the environment, it makes it all worth it.”

It’s rewarding to find that schools, cities, and educators are proactive in teaching the benefits of composting for kids. Remember, they are our earth’s future caretakers. Yes, they are young and they can help, and hopefully as they grow into young adults, they will take there composting habits with them into the future!