2012 Greeley, Colorado, USA
Lila Dong and Faith Sears, sophomores, won eighth place in 2012 Caring for our Watersheds (CFW) Colorado competition finals. Afterwards, Nutrien donated $1,000 to implement their idea.
Dong and Sears had the idea to implement a composting program at their high school. Although the original proposal had to be altered before the finals, the idea re-implemented a program in the high school that had previously been benefiting the environment and community through food waste recycling. The original program had to be cancelled when the composting company closed. In time for the CFW finals, Dong and Sears had already made contact with a long established composting company, and secured support from the school administration and student body for the composting program.
Dong and Sears is working with A1 Organics, a well-established composting company in Colorado along with Nutrien and its’ community partners.
A1 Organics has provided a composting bin for Union Colony Schools, in which middle and high schoolers will recycle their food waste. Biweekly, the company will pick up the compost. This program will be in place for the entirety of the 2012-2013 school year. It will be completed in May 2013; however, through the terra-cycling program at Union Colony, it is hopeful that the composting program will continue to have funding for the following years.
Dong has commented on the project, “Composting allows us to use specific things such as food that will help the watershed and even nature by giving nutrients for plants instead of just wasting it by throwing it away in the trash.”