School Composting: Planning Checklist

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Planning Checklist

Click here to  access this checklist in Google docs

Critical questions you’ll have to answer:

  1. Who is your school’s composting Coordinator?
  2. What is the need for compost at your school?
  3. How will you get student investment in the program?
  4. Who is in charge of handling transportation of food scraps to the compost system?
  5. What materials are needed for successful source separation and where will they come from? (five-gallon buckets, totes, posters, labels, ect.)
  6. Have you considered doing a school wide waste audit so you can track the decrease in waste overtime?  
  7. Who will train the students, staff, and kitchen about source separation of food scraps? (Highfields’ Close the Loop programs are available to help with this)
  8. Who will size and recommend your on-site composting system? (Highfields’ Technical Services are available for this purpose)
  9. Who will install the composting system?
  10. How will the system be paid for?
  11. Who will monitor and record the temperature and moisture of the compost piles on a weekly basis?
  12. Who will source materials such as bedded manures, leaves, straw, hay, and wood shavings to provide the proper blend to your compost recipe?
  13. Who will turn the piles on a regular basis?
  14. Who is the go to person for consultation and trouble-shooting should management questions arise?
  15. Who is charged with the long-term responsibility for the program when the coordinator and other key parties are no longer involved? 
  16. Whose job will it be to replace the coordinator, develop an interim management strategy in their absence and otherwise ensure the long-term success for the program?
  17. How will the school prevent common challenges from undermining the program such as changes in the availability of off-site materials, staff changes, undesirable odors and other issues with mismanagement, etc.?

NOTE: While the school may not be able to answer all of these questions at first, before action is taken to implement an on-site composting program, it is necessary that these key logistics be addressed and roles filled by committed members of your school community.

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