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Blueberry Hill Green Club showcases composting, recycling and schoolwide waste-reduction projects to School Committee
Summary
Students from Blueberry Hill School told the Longmeadow School Committee on April 29 that their Green Club has organized composting, collection drives and other waste-reduction efforts that the club says have diverted thousands of items from landfill.
Blueberry Hill students and their teacher presented the Blueberry Hill Green Club’s two-year record of recycling, composting and waste-reduction projects to the Longmeadow School Committee on April 29.
The student-driven group, led by Katie Coviello, math specialist and Green Club advisor, described activities that included a Staples writing-utensil recycling bin (which the club says has collected about 6,202 writing utensils), a school composting program that produced 2,564 pounds of food waste for pickup by a commercial composter, and collection drives that yielded more than 700 pairs of sneakers for reuse and more than 10,000 candy wrappers diverted from landfill.
The presentation emphasized student leadership and community partnerships. Principal David Allen and school custodian Jeff (identified in the presentation) also described operational results: cafeteria garbage during lunch reportedly dropped from about four bags to one bag per day after the school added composting collection.
Committee members praised the students and asked practical questions about how other schools or families could replicate the programs. Students explained that the Staples recycling project uses labeled classroom bins; club members collect the materials weekly and deliver them to a Staples drop-off. They also said Banana Company (the district’s commercial compost hauler) picks up and processes the food waste and provides weekly tonnage updates to the school.
Covello and student presenters said the Green Club includes 24 members in grades 3–5 and that members have logged more than 40 volunteer hours this year on club projects. Students described a series of classroom challenges called “Do 1 Thing,” a candy-wrapper drive, sneaker and plastic collections for national recycling challenges, and a writing-utensil drive tied to Staples’ recycling program.
The committee did not take any formal action on the presentation. Committee members encouraged the students to share their composting and recycling processes with other district schools, and several members suggested the Green Club might advise future middle-school building plans on waste-management systems.
The committee thanked the students, and multiple members offered applause and congratulations.
