The idea that students could and should recycle and compost at school began in 1999 when the DavisRISE (Recycling Is Simply Elementary) program was piloted in three Davis elementary schools.

The program was created by retired teacher Dorothy Peterson, currently chair of Davis Farm to School, and supported by John Geisler of Davis Waste Removal and a grant from the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

“The DavisRISE program has been a tremendous success,” Geisler said, “and Davis Waste Removal is proud to have been a founding partner. This pilot project is another step toward zero waste for the school lunch program.”

As the program was adopted by the school district and implemented at all the elementary schools, the school district saw a 50 percent reduction in its costs for garbage pickups. DavisRISE has expanded to the junior and senior high schools in the district and is adapting to the different challenges presented by these sites.

Because of the RISE program, each day at lunch dismissal, thousands of Davis students perform an elaborate ritual to reduce waste. Leftover salad is emptied into a container for composting, plastic containers and utensils go into the recycle bin, juice pouches go to another recycling container, paper trays are stacked for the paper recycling bin and plastic wrap goes into the trash can.

Currently, waxed juice and milk cartons join the plastic wrap in the trash, but RISE and DWR are partnering with the city of Davis’ commercial food scrap collection pilot to collect these containers to compost.

Two sites, Harper Junior High School and César Chávez Elementary School, have been chosen for a pilot project to run through mid-December. They join the school district’s central kitchen, which already has been participating in the program from the beginning.

Students will have to get their sorting skills ramped up even higher to deal with the cartons, but the savings could be well worth the effort — early measurements show that an elementary school typically generates one 33-gallon garbage can per day of these bulky cartons.

Cartons to compost may be a good deal for the schools and for the environment. The schools are once again raising the bar and offering support for reducing their carbon footprint.

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Cesar Chavez Elementary School students Charlotte Mitchell and Aleta Ballinger-Dickerson recycle their lunch trays after eating at school last week. Chavez is one of two schools now recycling milk and juice cartons along with everything else. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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