Sustain Dane announced on Mar. 29 that it is continuing its composting pilot program this semester in partnership with the City of Sun Prairie, Green Box Compost, and the Sun Prairie Area School District.
The ongoing initiative aims to educate students about food waste reduction and composting, helping them understand how their actions impact the environment. The effort involves multiple schools in the district and includes hands-on learning experiences for students.
In March, second-grade students from Royal Oaks visited Green Box Compost to learn firsthand where their cafeteria food scraps go. During their field trip, they participated in interactive stations such as a sorting game to identify items suitable for compost, recycling, or trash; learned about worms’ role as decomposers; traced lunch ingredients back to soil; and toured the facility to see how food scraps are processed into compost.
Sustain Dane staff also engaged with Sun Prairie East’s environmental club to discuss community composting opportunities like Dane County Scrap Stops and local companies. They shared tips on reducing food waste through meal planning and storage while encouraging home composting efforts among students. One student from Sun Prairie East said, “I personally had no idea food waste was such a big driver of climate change, and I think that the work that you do is awesome.”
Students at Token Springs and Royal Oaks elementary schools, along with staff at the district’s production kitchen, continue to collect cafeteria food scraps for composting. Together across these three locations, more than 9,056 pounds of food waste have been diverted from landfills so far. The program will continue into the 2026-2027 school year.
Residents interested in learning more about reducing waste or recycling can explore Sustain Dane’s Recycle Better program at https://sustaindane.org/recycle-better-program/. Sustain Dane describes itself as a sustainability organization offering programs and resources throughout Dane County.
