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Students urge unified recycling and composting across Charlottesville and Albemarle schools
Summary
Student members of the Green Team Alliance and allies asked the Charlottesville City Schools board to adopt a universal recycling and composting system, presenting a petition signed by 285 people and requesting the board place the proposal on the June 4 agenda.
Everest Kester, a recent Charlottesville High School graduate and president of the school’s Green Bacon club, told the school board on May 21 that students are struggling to maintain recycling and composting programs because of inconsistent management and high contamination rates. “Students have had to sort through moldy food waste, mysterious liquids, and lots of trash in order to have a recycling system for the school,” Kester said during the public comment period.
Kester and other members of the Green Team Alliance presented a petition with 285 signatures — about 60% students, 11% staff and 12% parents — that outlines six steps the coalition says would improve waste management across Charlottesville and Albemarle schools. The group asked the board to adopt a “paper-and-metal-only” recycling approach, provide clearly labeled classroom bins, introduce paper-towel composting in bathrooms, expand food composting during lunch, increase education around correct sorting, and phase a transition so school staff manage day-to-day waste operations with fair compensation.
Sarah Delgado of the Community Climate Collaborative, who said she does youth and outreach work with area high schoolers, urged the board to coordinate city and county school divisions on a consistent program. “When students from different schools were asked, their number one complaint was consistent recycling and composting from kindergarten through 12th grade,” Delgado said.
Student speakers Reid Roback and Willa, both recent graduates, described time-consuming experiences removing contaminated materials from bins and urged staff-managed systems so student clubs can focus on education. Roback asked the board to add discussion of the petition to its June 4 meeting agenda.
Board Chair acknowledged receipt of the petition and asked commenters to leave materials with the clerk for staff follow-up. Superintendent Dr. Gurley and staff did not take formal action at the meeting but confirmed they had responded to some emails and said they would follow up as needed.
The petition and the students’ request will be available to the board clerk; students asked specifically for the petition topic to be scheduled for the next regular meeting on June 4.
