LCC has embarked on a new phase of the composting initiative. Although the worms in the vermi-composting bins in our greenhouse have been busy in the last years devouring some of the vegetable food scraps, as an initiative intended for educational purposes, the time has come to do more.

The student green team has launched a “Just Fruits Campaign” to assist everyone, from Junior School to faculty, in easing into this new phase. Bins have been placed in strategic places throughout the school to collect fruit wastes from snacks and lunches. Four bins have been placed near the existing garbage in the dining hall, one larger brown bin outside of the dining hall, and a brown bin in the Junior School area. These bins are emptied into the three wood composters located outside by the old rink. The composters were supplied by “Les ateliers d’Antoine,” a local organization that not only promotes social inclusion through training in cabinetmaking, but also promotes an ecological use of wood that would otherwise be deemed as waste wood.

The decision to use “Just Fruits” as an initial measure was two-fold. First, we wanted to avoid the presence of the “wrong” items making their way into the outdoor composters. Grease present in sauces and salad dressing, for example, can be an unwelcome and open invitation to our furry friends in the area. Second, by keeping it simple, we can all concentrate on making a concerted effort to compost, without any confusion.
The vegetables have not been ignored in all this, however. A second, behind-the-scenes-measure has also begun which involves the vegetable wastes that the kitchen produces in the making of the meals. Every week, vegetable wastes, that fill a 360L container to the brim, are collected by Compost Montréal.

If all goes well and everyone does their share, we will soon be leaving this phase behind and looking forward to new solutions.
—The LCC Student Green Team