For the past few months, the Haverford Sustainability Alliance, led by Sixth Formers Kevin Li and Noah Kanefsky and Fifth Former Ryan Wang, have been busy starting up a new composting system on campus. This system will help with Haverford’s sustainability by turning leftover food scraps into compost.
The process has not been easy. Working with his advisor, math teacher Mr. Samuel Walters, and Service Learning Director Ms. Jini Loos, Li was able to get the program running.
“[Faculty] helped support me in meeting with various administrators, especially with the Director of Dining Ms. Kimberly Sprangers, who, after several meetings, ultimately approved the program.”
The composting initiative is the Sustainability Alliance’s second initiative this year. Earlier, they worked with the Lunch Board to eliminate plastic water bottles.
“The main goals, at least for the start of the year, were to eliminate plastic water bottles and start composting. Personally, it’s always bothered me that plastic water bottles are so normalized,” Kanefsky said.
However, the entire process started when Li witnessed recycling material and trash all being thrown into the same bin. The quality of Haverford’s sustainability practices irritated him, leading him to meet with the administration.
“I discovered that a majority of our waste was being produced within the dining hall. To address this, I decided to help launch the composting initiative to reduce waste and make Haverford more sustainable.”
kevin li ’25
“I discovered that a majority of our waste was being produced within the dining hall,” Li said. “To address this, I decided to help launch the composting initiative to reduce waste and make Haverford more sustainable.”
Starting in mid-march, the lower school will begin with the composting program, placing “two five-gallon buckets where the students can throw out compostable goods that ultimately get dumped into a bigger bin to be picked up by Mother Compost,” Li said.
Alongside other sustainability members, Li and Kanesfsky will teach lower schoolers about composting to ensure food goes into the right bins during lunch periods. While this program starts with the lower school, it will soon make its way up to the middle and upper schools.
In the dining hall, the average Haverford school student wastes about 0.1 pounds of food, equivalent to a few half-eaten cookies, a half-cup of rice, or a quarter of a hamburger. If we multiply this number by the 1,013 students that attend the school, an average of 130 lbs. of food is wasted per lunch. If we multiply this number by the approximate 175 days of school, we see that 22,750 lbs. of food is wasted every year. If this program is to continue for many years, it has the capability to use the 22,750 lbs. of food to fertilize eleven acres of farmland or hundreds of school gardens. However, if this waste is sent to a landfill to be burned, it would emit significant greenhouse gases, equivalent to around 40,000 lbs. of coal.
22,750 lbs. of food waste is significant, but the origins of this issue at Haverford are quite interesting.
“The meal plan eliminates excess food being a financial burden on many students, but they don’t account for the damage it can do to the environment,” Kanefsky said.
Overbuying food is not a major issue for most students. It’s mostly the scraps left behind that accumulate over time that lead to the gargantuan amount of wasted food.
“Personally, I think upper school students are usually pretty mature in what they take and eat,” Kanefsky said. “I’m sure there is a difference in the lower and middle school lunches. Our school produces a ridiculous amount of waste given our size.”
Overall, while this program is good for the environment, it also increases student awareness of sustainability. This was precisely the end goal the club had in mind.
“By fostering these practices on campus, it will allow students to gain first-hand experience into what composting is and how it benefits the environment,” said Li.
Nevertheless, Li hopes to improve Haverford’s lackluster sustainability efforts and use them to inspire sustainability awareness among the generations of students to come.
“Haverford prides itself on being a leader in many areas from academics, athletics, to the arts,” Li said. “However, sustainability is one area where we’ve sometimes fallen short. By composting, we aren’t just helping the planet, but also solidifying Haverford’s reputation as a leading school in all aspects.”