We collect both pre-consumer (from the kitchen prep area) and post-consumer (from student lunch trays) food waste from the Canton High School and Middle School cafeterias. Students and staff scrap the food waste into 20 liter bins, which are transported to the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Farm to feed the anaerobic digester system.
Students from the HS Environmental Club and MS Green Team prepared educational materials (posters, announcements) to encourage students to participate in the school-wide food waste source separation activities in their cafeteria. This has helped increase the quantity of food waste collected. We typically collect 100 to 400 liters of food waste per week.
In addition, members of the Clarkson student team periodically visit each cafeteria to coach students on proper food waste separation practices. This helps to improve the quality of the waste and ensure that it is free of inorganic contaminants (paper, plastic, etc). The quality of food waste delivered from the school is excellent, with little to no contamination!
