Solana Beach School District schools are implementing a new green routine when it comes to handling lunch waste. The goal: sending less to the landfill. With the new program, the district is responding to Senate Bill 1383, which mandates practices by businesses and public agencies to reduce the volume of organic matter in California landfills, reducing methane and other greenhouse gas emissions.
Solana Vista School was the first to roll out the new lunchtime program last year—Interim Superintendent Sabrina Lee said the district consulted with Solana Center for Environmental Innovation and EDCO waste and recycling company to find the best practices. In launching the new program, students apply to be the social ambassadors at their school. They help to organize and separate compost, recycling, organics waste, liquids and trash into separate bins. They also sort out untouched and unwanted food that can be donated to food recovery programs. All of the Solana Vista sixth graders were also trained in food handling.
Organic separation of food scraps is being done in every school kitchen as well. As part of implementing the new process, the school conducts a student-led food waste audit, tracking how much is collected in each category of waste.