Background: The ISTC Zero Waste team was made aware of the opportunity to assist with this project due to past partnership with McKinstry. McKinstry’s mission is to “make the built environment healthier, more efficient and safer through our engineering expertise, construction excellence and innovative facility operations.” The ISTC Zero Waste team was brought on as a consultant for the solid waste, recycling, and compost portion of a larger emissions reduction plan.
Approach: ISTC compiled available information on waste hauling data including dumpster or bin sizes and pickup frequency at 50+ district buildings.
ISTC contacted staff in grounds, cafeteria, waste management, and other high-generation areas to understand current practices and diversion efforts across the district. ISTC also spoke to local government, business, and nonprofit agencies to gain greater understanding of the local area’s waste resources and assess potential partnership opportunities. Through these conversations, ISTC developed strategies and recommendations that complemented and built on existing waste reduction and management work, as well as first steps toward unaddressed “low-hanging fruit” solutions.
Finally, ISTC compiled a list of case studies, best practices, peer institutions, and assistance organizations to provide inspiration and aid for implementing waste reduction strategies. These were documented in a report and submitted to both the district and McKinstry.
Hauling data, stakeholder feedback, and additional resources were presented at an educational workshop. ISTC staff presented in person and answered questions from workshop attendees.
Results: Information, recommendations, and resources compiled and shared by ISTC can be used by the school district to address waste reduction, data collection, and diversion. Attendees of ISTC’s presentation will be able to advocate for waste reduction and management as important pieces of a carbon neutrality plan.
Background: The ISTC Zero Waste team was made aware of the opportunity to assist with this project due to past partnership with McKinstry. McKinstry’s mission is to “make the built environment healthier, more efficient and safer through our engineering expertise, construction excellence, and innovative facility operations.” The goal for this specific project was to develop carbon reduction goals with a focus on six key areas: energy efficiency, infrastructure upgrades, on- & off-site renewables, energy purchasing, fleet operations, and solid waste. The ISTC Zero Waste team was brought on to assist with the solid waste and recycling portion of this plan which analyzed existing data and practices, engaged stakeholders, and provided recommendations on ways to reduce waste across the district.
Approach: The tasks set out for the ISTC team involved evaluating existing data streams, engaging with key stakeholders across the district, conducting an educational session on waste reduction and diversion, developing strategies and recommendations to reduce waste generation and the associated Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions, and developing the solid waste section of the final plan. Evaluating existing data involved obtaining bills and records from waste and recycling disposal efforts and analyzing how those values differed across types of district buildings as well as the associated greenhouse gas emissions. ISTC also analyzed other waste streams including tires, construction and demolition waste, scrap metal, and landscape waste. As part of the engagement process, working groups from different priority areas were engaged to discern current conditions and existing practices within the district. Meetings were held with the custodial team, grant writing team, Green Team leaders, purchasing team, student nutrition services, as well as key stakeholders from the county recycling team. These meetings helped ISTC uncover what programs existed, what was going well, where gaps existed, and what opportunities there were across the district for improvement. The education session targeted Green Team members across the school district and focused on why waste reduction is important and relevant to the school district. This presentation also included ideas for engaging with students on the topic of waste, such as conducting waste bin audits in their classrooms. The ISTC team summarized their findings and presented recommendations for waste diversion and reduction in the final plan.
Results: The result of this project was the final carbon reduction plan of which ISTC contributed to the Solid Waste section. Recommendations were presented as “good,” “better,” or “best” which reflected cost, difficulty, and overall impact to allow the district to choose an approach in line with their financial and labor capabilities. This process not only collected valuable information which aided in creating a tailored pathway to reduction but also fostered connections and collaboration within the district by allowing the spread of knowledge about existing projects, partnerships, and ideas.
Sectors: K-12 schools (primary original sector targeted), Higher Education, Institutions (any with on-site food service) Location: Illinois (primary focus); United States (Beyond IL) Services: Implementation Assistance, Fostering Sustainable Behavior, Stakeholder Engagement, Waste Characterization
Background: According to a 2012 report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, food production represented 10 percent of the total US energy budget, uses 50 percent of US land, and accounted for 80 percent of the freshwater consumed in the US — yet, 40 percent of food in the US went uneaten. According to Feeding America, in 2013, 49.1 million Americans lived in food-insecure households, including 33.3 million adults and 15.8 million children.* Food waste is clearly both a tremendous problem and an opportunity for improving the sustainability of our society. Reducing food waste in schools not only helps to ensure those precious expended resources are providing nutrition as intended, but also provides the opportunity to set important examples of conservation and systems thinking among our impressionable youth, which will hopefully stay with them as they become our next generation of leaders.
Funded by US EPA Region 5, this project focused on food waste prevention and reduction at K-12 schools.
Approach: Launched in 2015, the Green Lunchroom Challenge (GLC) was a voluntary pledge program for schools to improve the sustainability of their foodservice operations. By registering, participants were accepting the challenge to reduce and prevent food waste in their facilities. The GLC website provided suggested activities that ranged in complexity and commitment, to allow participants to best suit their situation, budget, and available community resources. Participants were not required to complete activities, but with each activity that was completed successfully, they earned points toward recognition at different “levels of accomplishment” (Bronze: 250-500 points; Silver: 501-1000 points; Gold: 1001-1900 points; Platinum: 1901 or more points).
In addition to typical activities related to food preparation, presentation, and waste disposal, schools could also choose to integrate food waste prevention and reduction into curricula, helping students learn about food security and hunger, composting, the circular economy, and stewardship. Links to archived suggested activities are available at https://green-lunchroom.istc.illinois.edu/k-12-schools/suggested-activites/. Participants that achieved different levels of accomplishment are highlighted on the GLC website and received certificates for on-site display. TAP staff members also provided comments and recommendations for further improvement to participants based on activity documentation submitted.
Brochure used to market the project.
A kickoff workshop/training session was held at ISTC headquarters in Champaign, IL on September 17, 2015. This session provided an overview of the GLC, presentations on relevant tools and programs, and a group discussion of barriers and opportunities related to food waste prevention and reduction in K-12 schools. A free school food service training session was also presented by Greg Christian, Founder and CEO of Beyond Green Partners, a food service and consulting company focused on the nutritional and environmental impacts of school food. The presentations and training were videotaped to enable schools unable to attend, or which learned of the GLC after the kickoff, to benefit from the information shared. Presenters in addition to Greg Christian of Beyond Green Partners included: Joy Scrogum, ISTC; Susan Vescovi, US EPA Region 5; Kelly Boeger, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Housing Dining Services, and Raj Karmani, Zero Percent. Throughout the project period (for the US EPA grant), TAP hosted webinars for participants on subjects such as food donation for schools, USDA’s “Smarter Lunchrooms” concepts and food waste reduction, commercial composting services available to schools, school gardening and on-site composting, and case studies of outreach on food waste prevention and reduction with schools.
Additionally, TAP partnered with the Springfield [IL] Public Schools (SPS) to assess the opportunities for food waste reduction and diversion. This hands-on assessment provided insight into the barriers and opportunities in implementing the activities included in the Green Lunchroom Challenge.
Results:By the time the project funding ceased, 27 IL schools, three IL school districts, and two “other” organizations (an elementary school in New Jersey and the DeKalb County [IL] Health Department) had signed up to participate in the GLC voluntary pledge program (see the archived participant list). Although funding for the project ended in December 2016, TAP continues to share resources via the GLC website blog to assist any institution or organization with on-site foodservice operations with food waste prevention, reduction, and diversion.
Green Lunchroom Challenge (a topical blog that continues to be updated and is not exclusively focused on K-12 schools, but offers resources for any organization with on-site food service)
Green Lunchroom Challenge collection (archived materials from the US EPA-funded project in the Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship, IDEALS)
Food Waste Reduction Toolkit for Illinois Schools (Released in April 2020, this is a project of the Wasted Food Action Alliance and spearheaded by Seven Generations Ahead in collaboration with partners from the Wasted Food Action Alliance, including TAP’s Joy Scrogum. Lessons learned from the GLC informed the creation of this toolkit.)
