Oregon’s kid governor urges Senate committee to support composting

Rosie Lananga, a Riverdale School District student serving as Oregon’s kid governor for 2025, told the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment on May 21 that composting reduces greenhouse-gas emissions and encouraged lawmakers to support bills that promote composting.

“Did you know in Eugene, a recent survey showed that 42% of residents compost at home?” Lananga told the committee. She explained that when organic waste goes to landfills, “it breaks down in a way that releases methane, a greenhouse gas that’s much more powerful than carbon dioxide,” and that composting “reduces methane emissions by more than 50%.”

Lananga described activities she has led as kid governor, including organizing a class field trip for Earth Day, co-hosting a town hall with a representative and a senator, and developing lesson plans for her classmates. Committee members praised her initiative and invited follow-up events; Chair Solman said she would help arrange a tour of a composting facility and a community conversation.

The exchange was part of the committee’s scheduled “youth voices” segment; members lauded Lananga’s efforts to educate peers and residents about climate-action steps that can be taken at home and in schools.