On October 11th, Christine, (the Founder of Waste Less Living, Inc.), was invited to be "principal for the day" at Hamilton Elementary School. From 8:30am-11:30am, she shadowed the principal while she went about her duties. As an added bonus, Christine found herself sharing the day with Congresswoman Judy Chu in recognition of the school reaching an API score over 900! It was an opportunity for Christine to get some insight into how public schools are doing.
After the experience, Christine was thoroughly impressed with not only the dynamic leadership of Principal Weissenberger but also with ability of its teachers to engage their students and manage the classroom. It was evident that Hamilton School's API success story was attributable to a strong and balanced working relationship between the principal, the teachers, parents, support staff and engaged parents. Congratulations Hamilton School!
(Above, From Left to Right): Christine Lenches-Hinkel, Congresswoman Judy Chu, Principal Francis Weissenberger
Christine addressing 5th grade class
We Present! " What is a 'Green Business?' "-
The Pasadena Education Foundation's College Career Fair was held on October 13th and WLL was a participating exhibitor and guest speaker to share with college students what makes a 'green business.' The fair was intended to provide students with information, resources and insights to possibly career opportunities.
The High Point of the Day!
On October 19th, WLL coordinated another tour at High Point Academy for school administrators and teachers from both public and private schools in the Pasadena area interested in WLL's Organics Recovery Program.Those in attendance included: the Development Director and Facilities Manager at Sequoia School, the principal from Field Elementary School and the business ethics teacher from John Muir High School.Two High Point Academy students involved with the Enrichment Class were on hand to answer questions of the attendees.
The tour was prompted after Waste Less Living held an outreach workshop to introduce the ORP and to announce its collaboration with the Association of Compost Producers in pursuit of an Environmental Education grant opportunity offered through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The effort is underway to bring food scraps collection and composting to more schools in the Pasadena area as a pilot project. Details of this effort is forthcoming once the grant is finalized and submitted.
Congratulations, Altadena Heritage and
Happy Anniversary...Altadena!
On November 3rd, Altadena Heritage held a celebration in honor of their 25th year of service. The event was combined with the celebration of Altadena's 125th anniversary as a township! The event, which was held in Farnsworth Park's Davies Building, hosted approximately 700 attendees. Waste Less Living, Inc. was present to provide courteous, efficient service. As a result, we helped Altadena Heritage recover 117 lbs of organic material, and divert the "organic gold" from landfills toward proper composting facilities. It was a successful event, and our business was showcased as a sponsor in their program!
Worms, Anyone?
On November 6th, Waste Less Living arranged for 3 worm bins, 3 raised garden beds, 30 bags of topsoil to be donated to Aveson Charter School. WLL also secured 20 cy of compost for the school that was delivered the same day from the composting facility that was used to process all the food scraps and paper waste the students recovered for the 2011-2012 school year. Now that's what closing the loop is all about.
(worm bins!)
(above: the Learning Garden)
(compost delivery)
Making a Difference in Government!
On November 15th, WLL attended a workshop hosted by CAL Recycle for revising state regulations governing composting operations. WLL's interest and input will focus on tailoring the regulations in support of small-scale, urban-based composting operations. Our involvement is intended to shape the future of waste management practices and pave the way for more sustainable methods of processing our organic materials. We hope to assist in bringing the much-needed luxury of composting to more local locations.
You Can Get Involved to Bring Curbside Food Scraps Collection to the City of Pasadena!
Visit http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/PublicWorks/Zero_Waste_Pasadena_2040/
and take the survey!
We began such a service this past year as a pilot program to determine the feasibility and logistics of rolling out such a service. It can be done! Our customers were pleased, engaged and satisfied knowing they were doing the right thing and realizing it was not all that difficult. On our end, we are happy to report that over the course of 10 months, we diverted over 3 tons of food scraps from the landfill which was all destined for compost. Thank you to all who participated!
The next phase in our plan is to scale up this service so we can service even more customers...and in a much bigger way! Be on the look out for more announcements about when and how you can sign up for the 2013 year!
Our Passion for Educating Local Youth! Our school-wide green initiatives keep moving forward (and in the case of vermi-composting..."creeping" forward!) Would you like to see your local school added to our list?
Contact Waste Less Living, Inc. at clhinkel@wastelessliving.com
to inquire as to how we can help your child's school get on-board with 'Wasting Less!"