Middleton High School’s Green Team is beginning a pilot program with Green Box Compost, which provides compost pickup for businesses and homes in the Madison area. The Green Team’s work to reduce waste supports the MCPASD Board of Education's sustainability resolution, which requires the District to meet 100% of its operational energy needs with renewable energy by 2035.
Senior Brad Koeller is a member of the Green Team, and he serves on the City of Middleton’s Sustainability Committee.
“I listened to an inspiring presentation from Green Box at a committee meeting, and it got me thinking about composting at Middleton High School,” Koeller said.
He explained the pilot program’s focus on composting.
“Roughly half of all waste landfills are compostable, but yet it sits in landfills producing methane,” Koeller said. “Composting is a simple, natural process that reduces waste, reduces emissions, and produces nutrient rich ‘black gold’ for plants. Also, unlike backyard composting techniques, composting at facilities like Green Box use highly controlled environments for more efficient and faster composting, even breaking down otherwise hard-to-compost items like meat.”
Koeller said the pilot program will include a compost bin for managing kitchen waste.
“After lunch, any food not served that must be disposed of will be composted instead of thrown into the landfill,” he said.
During the pilot period, Koeller said they’ll focus on avoiding contamination to ensure that items such as plastics, glass and metals are not mixed in with the compost. He said they also want to avoid adding more work for lunchroom staff members.
The program may be extended into the 2026-2027 school year.
“We estimate this program will prevent around two bags of landfill waste per day, which spread across the school year, will hopefully amount to reducing waste output by several tons,” Koeller.
Learn about sustainability measures in MCPASD schools, including Head Cook Cliff Curtis’s work in Pope Farm Elementary School’s kitchen, and recognition MCPASD has earned for its sustainability efforts.