Expand BUGS Compost Program

As part of our commitment to a more just, equitable, and sustainable community, Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School (BUGS) is eager to purchase additional composting equipment to deepen the engagement and leadership of our students in hands-on sustainability practices, reduce waste, and shrink our environmental footprint. We also want to increase awareness about the value and process of composting among our broader community and make it easier for families and neighbors to reduce landfill waste and contribute to the health of our gardens and trees.  

We have also piloted classroom compost programs and would like to expand these initiatives to:

• Offer more frequent classroom activities that increase understanding of closed loop food cycles, recycling of nutrients, the workings of an ecosystem, and the use of composting as a sustainable alternative to landfill overuse.
• Host student-run community compost events that include arts activities such as painting with dyes made from fruits and vegetables, and showcase our gardens. 
• Use the additional nutrient rich compost we generate to support our Street Tree Care Initiative. 

BUGS would also like to become a resource for our community so that they could compost for our gardens instead of discarding food scraps with their trash for landfill. Due to the pandemic, the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has  temporarily suspended curbside composting service through possibly 2022, 

May-June

•  Purchase 5 compost tumblers for the garden and worm compost systems for the classroom to expand composting capacity 
• Purchase tools for processing and distributing compost to garden and street trees
• Work with students to build tumblers and set up expanded compost system
• Host 2 community compost events in the gardens for community drop off and engagement which will include street tree care and arts integration
• Student designed signage developed and printed to detail composting steps for the students and community
• Create a student developed infomercial about composting to distribute to the community via social media and QR code at the garden.

Summer

• Host 2 community compost events with a focus on inviting incoming 6th grade students and families
• Establish a community volunteer program to maintain the compost systems 

Fall

• Distribute finished compost in the gardens and local street trees and divert food waste from the school lunch program into the gardens. This program will be run by the school's Green team.
• Host 2 community events

The pandemic has led to students learning from home and away from friends to ensure their health and safety. Our goal with the “Expand BUGS Compost Program” is to both ease the transition back to school and provide students with the opportunity to be together, in person, engaged in healthy, outdoor activities. We also want students and families to see the connections between what we grow, eat, and recycle through initiatives that provide  deeper and meaningful learning about circular systems, composting, and sustainable ecosystems. 

Students need to interact with nature to care about it- to experience its science, beauty and interconnectedness. BUGS offers diverse middle school students from across Brooklyn a hands-on interdisciplinary education with a focus on real-world problem-solving and exploration of environmental, social, and economic sustainability that prepares students to achieve excellence in high school and become engaged global citizens. 

We are especially excited about expanding our compost program because exposure to the natural world especially in an urban environment encourages students to think in new ways and push boundaries. This is the kind of creative thinking and innovating that will be so important for our students if they are to lead the way to a more sustainable future. We also believe that the many dimensions of this project will help our students gain the tools to educate and motivate the community to make an impact.