Senior Claire Logan throws away her tray in the compost bin. “I think it is really cool the way our school is helping out the environment. It’s not that hard to sort your trash,” Logan said.

The community is taking their first steps to becoming an environmentally friendly campus. Working together with Blue Skies recycling company, Parkway District enforced their schools to obtain new ways of disposing lunch waste. On Monday, Aug. 23, new compost bins were added to the cafeteria.

“Twelve bins are sent to the school every two days. They are bright yellow cans with poster above them telling students what trash goes where,” Building Manager Scott Bollmann said.

Blue Skies picks up the compost bins daily. The compost is then taken to their factory where it is involved in a heated process.

Eventually the compost is turned into soil and sold to farms.

“This is not only a great way to help the environment, but it is also a great way to get students’ into the habit of composting their trash instead of putting it into one bin,” Bollmann said.

Although the idea of putting compost bins in the cafeteria was enforced by the district, History teacher Laura Boles also played a part in the process. Boles offered extra credit to her World History class for those who informed others about the bin and what trash can go in it.

“I knew Laura had wanted to do something like this in the past so when I received the email that the district was doing this, I immediately contacted her,” Bollmann said.

With the addition of the compost bins, there have also been new trays. These trays are not made from the original polystyrene but rather a material that is compostable. Therefore, instead of being put in the waste bin, they can be put into the compost bin.

“It is really nice to see kids that are trying to make this work. Among this generation, it is not necessarily ‘cool’ to sort trash, but those kids who are trying are greatly appreciated,” Bollmann said.