MINNESOTA SOURCE- SEPARATED COhlPOSTlNG I’ROJECr Dear Teacher:

Your school is participating in the Minnesota Source-Separated Composting Pilot Project which is being coordinated by a broad coalition of private and public partners. All the partners believe that organic composting is beneficial for two reasons: 1) A large amount of material can be diverted from disposal facilities (up to 70%) when composting is combined with traditional recycling; and 2) The final product can go back to the land, replenishing depleted and eroded soils and restoring ecological health. Restaurants, grocery stores, hospitals, and other businesses will be participating in the project with your school. Your school’s current waste service provider, Waste Management, will collect sorted organic materials, (primarily food and soiled or other paper that cannot be recycled or reused), and transport the material to the Wright County Compost facility near Buffalo, Minnesota. This state-of-the-art facility will process the organic material, then compost, screen and cure it to produce a high quality soil additive. I This pilot project provides for the co-collection of organic material and corrugated cardboard, with the organic material bagged separately to prevent contamination of the cardboard. During the three to six months following the implementation of the project, feasibility and cost studies will be undertaken to determine the long term viability of the program. This will be a great opportunity to teach your students about the composting process and the characteristics of common items that are part of the waste stream at your school. You can reinforce which items are already part of the school’s recycling program, and determine which additional items can now be composted, using services that are now available to your school. Enclosed you will find several lesson activities to cover these topics. If you have any questions or would like me to speak to your class you can contact m