Image of three friends posing for photo against backdrop of dirt and worms

Annabel, Amelia, and Sloan (left to right) collected food scraps for their compost bin during recess.

© Stephanie Gonzalez

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Fighting Food Waste

Three sixth-graders from Colorado got their school to cut down on food waste—and help the planet.

April 15, 2024
By Rebecca Zissou

As You Read, Think About: How does food waste affect the environment?

It happened every day in the cafeteria at Prairie Winds Elementary School. Students would throw away an enormous amount of food. Handfuls of carrot sticks, half-eaten apples, bowls of salad, and other food ended up in the trash.

“We noticed how much wasted food there was,” says 12-year-old Annabel Montero. “It was just going into the dumpster.”

Last year, Annabel and her friends Amelia Ashby and Sloan Clary decided to do something about all that discarded food. The three friends started a composting program at their school in Monument, Colorado. When composted food decomposes, or breaks down, it can be used as a natural fertilizer that helps crops grow. 

Along the way, the girls, who call themselves the Three Composteers, taught their classmates about the rotten ways that food waste affects the planet.

© Stephanie Gonzalez

The girls hold some of the compost from their bin.

What a Waste!

Wasting food isn’t a problem just at Prairie Winds. Each year, Americans throw away about 160 billion pounds of it. That’s up to 40 percent of all the food produced in the U.S.

Food ends up in the trash for a variety of reasons. Farmers often dump bruised or oddly shaped produce because people are less likely to buy it. Also, many grocery stores throw away damaged packages, even if the food inside is safe to eat. 

But the biggest source of food waste in the U.S. is us. Consumers often buy more food than they need and toss everything that goes uneaten.

Throwing away food isn’t just wasteful—it’s also bad for the environment. When food decomposes in landfills, it releases a gas called methane. Having too much methane in the atmosphere contributes to Earth getting warmer.

Plus, throwing away food wastes resources. That includes the water used to grow it and the fuel used by trucks that deliver it.

A Team Effort

To start their composting program, Annabel, Amelia, and Sloan showed their classmates how to sort their trash at lunch. Fruits and veggies without any sauces or dressing went into a bin for composting. 

The girls got another bin for their classroom. They filled it with soil, strips of newspaper, worms, and the food they’d collected. The worms feasted on the food scraps. The worms’ poop, called castings, is rich in nutrients that help plants grow. 

Prairie Winds now has two worm bins. The compost is used in the school garden to grow cauliflower, tomatoes, and other veggies. The school’s staff turns some of that produce into snacks, such as salsa and zucchini cake.

Sloan says composting can be hard work because it’s like caring for a garden. 

“But it’s a lot of fun,” she adds.

Thanks to the girls, the school now has four or five fewer bags of trash each week. The Three Composteers are proud to do their part to help the environment. They hope to inspire other students to start composting. 

“It’s good to know that, as a kid, you can do something to help,” says Amelia.

How to Compost With Worms

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1. Ask an adult to drill a few holes in the bottom and sides of a large bin. Fill it with newspaper, leaves, and soil. Pour in a little water to moisten the mixture.

2. Add worms to your bin. Red wigglers are an excellent type of worm for composting. You can order them online.

3. Gather any uncooked fruits and vegetables or scraps, like apple cores and the tops of strawberries. Cut up any big pieces. Add the food to your bin once a week and bury it beneath the soil. Cover the bin with a loose-fitting lid.

4. In three to five months, the bin will be filled with compost that’s rich in nutrients. Sprinkle it over your garden and watch it work its magic.

1. What are three main sources of food waste described in the article?

2. How does the author support the claim that food waste is bad for the environment?

3. How does the composting program at Prairie Winds Elementary School work?

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