Recycling Made Easy at Parkway's Carman Trails Elementary

During the 2012-13 school year, Parkway School District piloted a new compostable lunch tray and combined food composting. The program was funded by the St. Louis Jefferson Solid Waste Management District and was conducted in all six north area schools – Bellerive, Craig, McKelvey and Ross elementary schools, Northeast Middle and North High. 

Because of the highly successful pilot program, Parkway is now using the new compostable lunch trays in all 28 schools. Through a single stream recycling program Parkway recovers between 720 to 800 tons of material every year.

Carman Trails Elementary Assistant Principal Dr. Robert Villigram wanted to make supporting Parkway School District’s food service recycling program as simple and successful in his building as possible.

“Recycling is more than our job, it’s our responsibility,” he says.

Partnering with his 'Green Team’ including fellow Carman Trails staff members Karen Regan, Robert Jones, Robyn Byrd, Michael Schultz and Jesse Tran, and District Sustainability Manager Erik Lueders, Villigram created three posters with Compost, Recycle and Landfill headings, adhering actual examples of lunch items that would go into each container.  Whether an emerging Kindergarten reader or an ESOL student learning English for the first time, Villigram wanted to create a system that worked regardless of language barriers.

The Ambassador’s Club, which is the school’s student council made up of third through fifth grade students run by Amy Sampo, also supports the effort by sorting items during various lunch shifts.