Polytechnic School: A Different Kind of Barn-raising

A different kind of barn-raising was happening at Poly last Sunday. A Poly team of six (two alumni, one Upper School student, and three employees) raised two new Aerated Static Pile composting bins in the Middle School Garden. Middle School and Upper School students have now instituted food waste sorting and collection campus-wide so even our youngest students are sorting their lunch food waste for composting. Keeping food waste out of our landfills fights climate change by reducing methane gas emissions.

In 2021, about 1,500 pounds of food waste and three tons of landscaping waste were composted in bins that were constructed in July 2020 as a result of an eighth-grade Class of 2024 “Closing the Loop” research project. The two new bins will provide a space to cure compost for later use as a fertilizer for Middle and Lower School raised gardening beds and on Poly’s own landscaping to help conserve water.

Polytechnic School, 1030 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 396-6300 or visit www.polytechnic.org.