Kitsap County Announces Food to Flowers Pilot Program 

-Photo Op-
Sunnyslope Elementary School
11:00 am - 1:00 pm through February 13th

Port Orchard, WA — On February 2, 2009, Sunnyslope Elementary School kicked off the lunchroom organics recycling program sponsored by Kitsap County Solid Waste Division. The Food to Flowers program began as a pilot project and will continue through April 2009. 

The program is in the midst of the 2-week training phase until February 13th. During this time the Solid Waste staff is present during lunchroom periods, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm to provide technical assistance. Student Monitors have been chosen to assist the students with direction on proper sorting of their waste into the appropriate containers for garbage, compost and recyclables.

The program works by taking leftover food and soiled paper from the school lunchroom and kitchen, thereby diverting it from the waste stream, and sending it to North Mason Fiber Company, a state-of-the-art commercial composting facility. At North Mason Fiber Company, the food and paper scraps are composted into a nutrient-rich, natural soil amendment. 

The program goals are to reduce the amount of organics in the waste stream, lower garbage hauling costs, raise community awareness about composting and waste reduction and give students hands-on experience as environmental stewards.

Over 200,000 tons of garbage are generated annually in Kitsap County, with a conservative estimate of 20% being food waste or other organics. The Food to Flowers program helps divert this material from landfill disposal. In addition, some of the compost produced will be returned to the school for application, thereby “Closing the Loop.”

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To contact the Public Information Officer, 
call Doug Bear at 360-337-4598 or email: dbear@co.kitsap.wa.us