Spearheaded by senior Jacki Petrow, the Sustainability Club has officially reinstated composting bins in the lunchroom. An idea originally started by FBLA member Baden Brumbaugh back in 2020 to make Bellevue West greener is now, after some years of dormancy, being revitalized. 

“Jacki really wanted to get back into it, because composting diverts a lot of wastes from going to the landfill,” junior Adelina Foss said.

Bellevue East set up composting bins last summer and have maintained them this year. Foss said they had found that there was a “40% diversion rate” of waste that used to be going to the landfill that is now being composted. 

At West, Sustainability Club has set up two bin stations where students can dump their lunch waste. One for both compostable items and one for regular waste. The compost that West collects will be taken to Hillside Solutions, a recycling and composting company. They, over an eight week process, turn it into a nutrient rich soil.

Since the system is still new, club members and volunteers will be in the lunchroom to help students know where to put everything. Senior Isabel Hernandez, vice president of the Sustainability Club said they are also hoping students needing volunteer hours or members of other clubs like Key Club and ROTC will join them in helping at the bins. 

Foss said that the Sustainability Club hopes that reintroducing the composting bins can help “reduce our negative impacts on the environment” and make West more eco-friendly.

“We’re just really involved and passionate about the environment,” Hernandez said.