$750K In Grants To Promote Grade School Food Recycling

Cafeteria food recycling programs could be coming to a school near you, thanks to $750,000 in grants to the R.I. School Recycling Project, according to a media release.

The nonprofit will use the money to help every elementary school in Rhode Island launch student-led food waste recycling programs.

The Get Food Smart program is already in place at elementary schools like Rhodes in Cranston, Pell in Newport and Fishing Cove in North Kingstown. With the grants, RISRP plans to expand to elementary schools in Barrington, Bristol, East Providence, Middletown, Narragansett, Portsmouth, South Kingstown, Warren, Woonsocket, Little Compton and Tiverton.

“Thousands of elementary school students will be able to play crucial roles extending the life of the Central Landfill and significantly reducing their schools’ carbon footprint," RISRP Co-Director Jim Corwin said in the media release.

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"And the best part? It’s being done by students with help from great custodians, cafeteria staff and teachers,” Corwin said.

The initiative is expected to extend the life of the state’s only landfill by diverting hundreds of tons of cafeteria food waste from the Johnston facility to composting and other environmentally friendly uses. The project is particularly focused on diverting edible, healthy good food from the waste stream to food insecure students and their families, something particularly pressing at this moment.

“This is a very simple and inexpensive way to divert healthy, edible food to food insecure students and at the same time divert the remaining food waste to be composted," RISRP’s Organizing Director Warren Heyman said in the media release.

"This lengthens the life of the landfill and reduces the amount of methane going into our atmosphere," Heyman said. "Lastly, it reduces student anxiety about a warming planet and provides them leadership opportunities in their schools."

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11th Hour Racing, a Newport-based organization that fosters connections for healthy sea, land, and people by investing in innovative, sustainable solutions for the health of the ocean and our communities, is awarding $250,000.

RISRP is getting $500,000 from the Rhode Island Foundation. The initiative aligns with the Foundation’s new “Climate Action and Sustainability” Community Priority. Reducing the amount of food waste that would decay over time at the landfill will cut the amount of greenhouse gases released into the air.

“Food waste decomposing in landfills releases methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide. In contrast, composting produces oxygen, and the resulting compost enriches soil, improves water retention, and reduces the need for energy-intensive synthetic fertilizers,” Foundation President and CEO David N. Cicilline said in the release. “Let's be the first state in the nation to have all their elementary schools composting food waste."

A portion of the Foundation’s grant came from donors who wish to remain anonymous.

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