Students at Gulf Islands Secondary School (GISS) are asking a simple but important question: Why is food waste leaving campus in a truck labelled as garbage destined for Washington state when it could be returned to the soil as compost here on Salt Spring Island?

Compost transforms food scraps and organic waste into a rich resource that builds healthy soil, supports gardens, reduces methane emissions from landfills, and closes the loop between food and food production. With gardens on campus and a strong desire to reduce harmful environmental impacts, GISS students believe much of what is currently thrown away could instead be incorporated into a more sustainable school system. As School District 64 publicly expresses a commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship, students are calling for school waste systems that fully reflect those values in practice.

As part of Youth in Action: Building a Sustainable GISS, members of the GISS Earth Club, led by Grade 12 student activist Melody Silva and supported by program coordinator Fig Mulder, have spent the spring examining how waste is managed at the school and what it would take to create a school-wide compost and recycling system.

During a recent student-led waste audit, conducted with support from custodial staff, Earth Club students sorted one day’s collection from school garbage bins and found that 67 percent of the material was compostable food waste and organic matter.

Currently, the GISS Cafeteria, led by Chef Mark Kilner, is the only area of the school where food waste, compostables, plastics, and garbage are systematically sorted before pick up. Culinary students divert food scraps generated while preparing meals for approximately 150 people daily at GISS, as well as an additional 100 lunches prepared for local elementary schools.

All compostables, including food scraps, bamboo cutlery, and compostable takeout containers deposited or left in the school cafeteria are collected and transported to Victoria through a contract with Emterra, a waste management company specializing in detailed tracking and transparent reporting. Manager Anna Malham explained over the phone that all materials must be carefully separated so they can continue through the recycling and composting stream until they become something new.

Beyond the cafeteria, students and staff don’t have options for composting or recycling. Throughout the rest of the campus, only garbage bins and tin can receptacles are available. All contents from the garbage bins are collected by truck and sent to Washington State through the current waste management system. For Earth Club members, the recent one-day audit highlighted a significant opportunity to better align school waste practices with both community sustainability goals and the district’s stated commitment to environmental stewardship.

“We want change” says Melody Silva, student lead of the initiative. “Climate advocacy is a responsibility we all share, and this project is a way to make tangible change in a world where so much feels outside our control.”

The composting initiative is part of a broader partnership between the GISS Earth Club and Transition Salt Spring’s Lighter Living Program. The project is supported through grants from the Jacqueline Booth Memorial Fund for the Environment (held at the Salt Spring Island Foundation), the Raffi Foundation, and the Salt Spring Institute for Sustainability, Education and Action.

To date, approx. 20 students have participated in advocacy training, met with school administration and district staff to better understand current waste systems, interviewed staff and students, surveyed waste management organizations, created promotional videos, and organized awareness campaigns, including a school-wide Earth Day waste “pile-up” audit. Earth Club students also met with Local Community Commissioner Ben Corno to discuss possible solutions. Earth Club students are now wrapping up a month-long waste audit, regularly putting on gloves to sort through garbage bin contents and separate recyclable and compostable materials to better understand what is being discarded across the school and where opportunities for improvement exist.

Photographs taken by Christopher Roy at GISS during Earth Day Pile Up. Project coordinator Fig Mulder points out Garbage vs Recycle and Compost to Georg Janssen and Anne McKague after Earth Club students sort waste from Garbage bins.
Waste sort reveals mostly compost in garbage bins heading to landfill.

Students are encouraged by emerging local solutions. Dr. Georg Janssen, operator of Salt Spring’s Eco Drum, visited GISS during the Earth Day waste audit and shared optimism about the possibility of processing school food waste locally as approvals move forward. Located at Burgoyne Valley Community Farm, the Eco Drum is operated through a partnership between the CRD, Salt Spring Abattoir, and Salt Spring Farmland Trust and currently processes organic waste from the abattoir, community gardens, and commercial farm operations at the site.

Earth Club students remain focused on identifying practical next steps and hope to see tangible progress toward a more sustainable waste management system at their school. Students will present their findings and recommendations to both the School District 64 Board of Education and the Local Community Commission in June.

GISS Earth Club members include:
Melody Silva, Finn Bryant, Amelia Cunningham, Kaelyn Dennis, Donna De Roo, Axton Ellis, Ella Gariepy, Posey Hertzman, Cora Higgs, Nova Kovacevic, Avery Minkow, Clara Palmer Bazdresch, Artémise Parent, Alil’a Perlux de la I’o, Matteo Poerschke, and Marissa Shirk.

Prepared by Transition Salt Spring’s Lighter Living Initiative.