Truman Gets Composting

Capri Sun, bread, and apple sauce all found a new home at Truman School — thanks to the new addition of a compost bin that fifth graders Jamanielix and Daniel helped introduce to some of New Haven’s youngest students. 

That was the scene at Truman Wednesday morning as it became New Haven Public Schools’ (NHPS’) eighth school to kick off a composting program, in an effort to divert food scraps from the landfill.

While suited up in gloves provided by Truman’s cafeteria staff, Jamanielix and Daniel explained which food items could be tossed into the compost bin and which couldn’t. They also tried to catch the small but quick kindergartners who occasionally got too excited and threw in an accidental ketchup packet or plastic spoon. 

NHPS’ compost pilot began in 2023 through a partnership with Blue Earth Compost, which is funded by a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant. 

The district has rolled out the program four schools at a time, and Truman is in the second cohort. Sound School and Metropolitan Business Academy kickstarted their composting in March and Worthington Hooker at the start of April. 

ABM — the district’s facilities and management contractor — Energy & Sustainability Manager for NHPS Michelle Martinelli has been working with city Recycling Educator Rose Richi and Center for EcoTechnology Waste Reduction Consultant Nick DiVito to pilot the district’s sustainability efforts in recycling and composting. 

When Martinelli reaches out to schools, she said she makes it clear that the schools must be committed to maintaining the compost program as a community. She encourages the establishment of ​“green teams” so the work doesn’t fall only on staff but also requires student leadership and peer to peer engagement. 

DiVito added that the programs typically run best when students are learning from their peers rather than just being told what to do by an adult. 

For the next two weeks, Martinelli and DiVito will continue to offer Truman support as the school adjusts to the new program and to work through any initial hiccups. 

Blue Earth does the hauling of the compost from each of the eight schools weekly. Since NHPS’ compost program first piloted in 2023, the district has collected 33,000 pounds of food scraps, Martinelli reported. 

On Wednesday morning Divito worked with Truman school counselor Kelly Casey to identify the right location for the compost bin in the lunch room. DiVito suggested that it be accessible on all sides for easy hauling out of the cafeteria after lunch completes. He also encouraged the team to place the toter at the center of the cafeteria and beside the trash cans in order to serve as a daily reminder for students. He noted that different methods work for different schools. 

So far an estimated 30 middle schoolers have agreed to help run Truman’s program. Fifth graders Jamanielix and Daniel were the first to step up to support Wednesday’s first lunch wave of kindergarteners. 

The students joined Divito and Martinelli in guiding the elementary schoolers through the process of no longer just dumping their entire tray of food scraps in the trash, but sorting them instead. 

When fifth-grader Daniel asked if milk cartons could be composted, Divito told him that students can pour their leftover milk into the compost bin but should trash the cartons, as they are coated in wax.

Truman’s 5 – 8th graders who expressed interest in the program will take turns daily working with a partner each lunch period to remind students of what can and can’t go in the compost bin. 

The 7th and 8th graders also decorated the lunch room with posters that included information about composting. 

Meanwhile, DiVito stopped at kindergarteners’ lunch tables to talk them through what on their lunch trays they should and shouldn’t compost. 

“Can you guys tell me what’s plastic on your tray?” DiVito asked a group of students enjoying chicken sandwiches. 

Students raised their applesauce containers and forks in the air. ​“Yes, those all go in the trash. If you have any food that you don’t want, though, you can put it in the blue compost bin,” he said. 

When one student asked why their applesauce couldn’t go in the bin, DiVito explained, ​“If you open it, you can pour the apple sauce in the compost bin. The plastic has to go in the trash. It’s not good for compost.” 

That then led another student to ask, ​“what’s the food going to do” if it’s not put in the trash?

DiVito explained that the compost will be turned into soil to then be used to grow beautiful flowers.

Immediately after DiVito’s explanation, a student rushed to the cafeteria bins with a plastic bag full of pretzels. ​“I don’t like these,” she said while opening the package and dumping her pretzels into the compost and throwing the plastic into the trash. 

Truman lead cook Betty Alford also took the time after serving students their lunch to stop by each table in the lunchroom to remind the students: ​“Only food goes in the blue bin.” 

Alford said that over her 32 years of working for NHPS and 16 years at Truman, she’s watched so much food go to waste and she’s glad things are changing. 

“There’s lots of waste, so this is good for the students. It teaches them how to put food in there instead and not waste it,” Alford said. 

Jamanielix and Daniel also spent time during the lunch period using grabbers to pick out the occasional mistaken straw or milk containers that were dumped in the compost. 

Food service staffer Jennifer Rivera suggested the school make a sign displaying exactly which items can or can’t go in the compost bin to help younger students especially.

“By the end of the day, that’s going to be full,” Rivera said about the compost bin. 

Martinelli agreed, adding that the trash cans will as a result be more empty. 

Students excitedly peeked into the compost bin to see the mix of foods mesh together. (The lunch trays are compostable, too — students stacked them to toss them in after all the food had been sorted in order to not take up too much space in the bin.)

On Wednesday, Richi also provided a recycling update: The district has established recycling programs at 17 schools so far. The recycling program is funded by the district, which is working to get the Department of Public Works to pick up recyclables at every school in the future. 

Connecticut recently updated its Commercial Organics Recycling Law to now require certain commercial entities, including K‑12 schools, to ​“source-separate and recycle organic materials.” The law requires compliance for K‑12 schools by July 1, 2026. 

After Wednesday’s first lunch period, Jamanielix and Daniel headed back to class for the next duo to then step in. They described the composting job as easy and fun. They look forward to continuing to help because ​“it’s healthy for the world,” Jamanielix said. 

For the next wave, sixth-graders Lily and Alex stepped in to help.