MANHATTAN — A hundred city schools are about to save the earth — one less garbage bag at a time.
The departments of sanitation and education are about to kick off a "zero waste" pilot program this winter in which participating schools will either reuse, recycle or compost all of their paper, food waste and other trash so none of it ends up in landfills and incinerators.
The schools will be on track to eliminate all recyclables and compostables from their trash bins within five years, according to a recently released DSNY report on its school and residential compost program.
The schools in the $1.1 million pilot will be selected depending on their position on the Department of Sanitation's collection route and the DOE will provide training for all school staff, officials said
"Through the collaboration of students, parents, teachers, principals, custodians and cafeteria staff, these schools will become models for others and advance a culture of recycling and sustainability throughout the school system," the report stated.
The move is part of the de Blasio administration's larger sustainability goal for the city to send zero waste to landfills by 2030.
Almost everything discarded by schools can be recycled or composted, DSNY officials said, explaining that most school garbage consists of paper, cardboard and food waste from classrooms, cafeterias and offices. The remaining one-tenth is metal, glass, plastic and cartons.
The sanitation department has been rolling out its schools composting program over the past three years following a grassroots effort by Upper West Side parents who launched their own self-funded food scrap collection program.
Since then, DSNY has expanded compost pickup to 40 percent of the city's public schools — or roughly 720 — including all schools in Manhattan and Staten Island as well as selected schools in the other boroughs.
There are also 28 charter schools co-located in DOE buildings and 69 private schools and other institutions that are part of the program.
Nearly half of all compostable waste was saved from ending up in a landfill at the nine Manhattan schools surveyed, according to an audit.
Of the 10 Staten Island schools that DSNY looked at, the diversion rate was roughly 30 percent, and at seven Brooklyn schools surveyed, the rate was nearly 20 percent.
To cut down on trash and make composting easier, public schools have already replaced all polystyrene trays in cafeterias with compostable plates and are planning to move to compostable utensils next.
"This new zero waste initiative will ensure our schools continue to lead the way in sustainability," DOE spokesman Jason Fink said.
Kids often teach their parents about sustainability, which translates into higher participation in the city's residential compost program, sanitation officials and parents said.
"There is a clear connection between teaching zero waste principles in school and practicing them at home," the report stated.
"Kids educate parents and, as they grow, contribute to the culture change needed to treat discarded materials as resources instead of wasting them."
Park Slope mom Tracey Karr doubted she would have been as enthusiastic about composting if it weren't for her third grader, Riley, who learned about composting in an after-school nature program at P.S. 321.
The 7-year-old then helped her mom with composting at their home, which is part of the sanitation department's residential compost program.
"She's the one who got me involved," Karr said.
“It helps the earth," said Riley.
