Sussex Middle School's Earthlings introducing compost program

Article content

Jenna Bateman wanted her students to see the environment in action and now, thanks to an environmental club, some cash and some collaboration, the Sussex Middle School pupils are not only learning, but they’re making a difference, too.

Bateman teaches science at the school and started an environmental club called the Earthlings. The small group of students recently secured two grants – $1,500 from the Anglophone School District South and $12,300 from N:OW for Net-Zero, a project by the Foundation for Environmental Stewardship  – to help launch a composting program in their school that will also include growing fruits and vegetables in their own greenhouse. The food the students grow will then be used in the school’s breakfast program and, potentially, in the cafeteria.

“At the beginning of the year we sat down and had a bit of a chat on what we thought our school was doing well and something we thought we could work on and one of the things they identified was our garbage,” Bateman explained, noting the students decided to combat that issue through composting.

Using funds through the grants, Bateman purchased compost bins for the school’s classrooms and then, through chance, she connected with Angelica Armitage of Armitage Construction Company Ltd. and discussed her idea and the two “bounced some numbers around” for the construction of a greenhouse. Right now, Bateman said, the goal is to have the greenhouse constructed in time for the beginning of the next school year. To have that done, she reached out to Heather Kyle, the shop teacher at Sussex Regional High School, who agreed to have her students involved in the construction of the greenhouse in June.

Student Lyla Quigley, who is a member of the Earthlings group, informed her fellow students of the program through a brief article in the school’s newspaper. In the article she noted “we  are going to be starting to compost, with 10 teachers having green bins in their classroom to collect organic waste. We will take the waste and put it in our compost bins outside, which will then decompose into soil. We will be using this soil to grow different fruits and vegetables in our greenhouse.”

For the Earthlings group, Bateman said, the project raises awareness not only about how much waste is produced in the school, but also teaches them about growing food and reducing emissions.

“One of the leading greenhouse gas emissions for global warming is methane, which is produced in the decomposition process of organic waste,” she said. “We thought that would be a good focus to reduce on the methane production and, then, to see it all come full circle… with planting and growing food.”