As the end of the school year is coming to a close, we’d like to highlight a teacher and a school doing great things to reduce food waste. Ms. Christine Lakatos, the art teacher at Hayes Elementary has led the school in diverting food waste from the cafeteria, showing the students, staff, and other schools that students are excited to and can help the environment in this way.
Hayes Elementary School, located in Westland but part of Livonia Public Schools, conducted a waste audit in 2024. Through the audit, they learned that unopened and uneaten food made up the largest portion of their cafeteria waste. With all students eligible for free lunch and required to take all of the lunch components provided, much of it was being thrown away. To help combat this while also keeping kids bellies fully and happy, Ms. Lakatos implemented a Share Cart where students can place unopened items that they do not want for others to take. Leftover food is first offered to the office to keep on hand for hungry students, and then to the Young 5 classroom for additional snacks. The rest is kept in the art room for students who forget their afternoon snack. Any leftover food is shared at the end of the day with students and the occasional items that are left over are shared with a local pantry.
This past January, the school launched a food scrap collection program that engaged the second, third, and fourth grade students in composting their compostable trays. Trays were stacked at the end of the lunch period and collected for composting by CO Sustainability, a local food scrap hauler. In Ms. Lakatos’ classroom, students practiced sorting food and packaging using play food. Once the students understood what could be composted and what couldn’t, food scrap collection started in the cafeteria, with the fourth graders leading the way. They did such a great job properly sorting everything that the third grade was also invited to start composting that same day, instead of the phased implementation that was originally planned. Green Ambassadors, a coveted position that students apply for, rotate managing the compost cart during each of the two lunch periods where food is composted under the supervision of Ms. Lakatos, who gives up her lunch to ensure everything runs smoothly. One student has become the compost manager and is responsible for wheeling the food scrap collection carts to their designated locations at the end of each lunch period.
While the food scrap collection program does not operate during breakfast, the Share Cart continues at the request of the students. The students have shown that sharing and diverting food scraps are important to them. Recently, they could not use the cafeteria for lunch due to a special event held there, and were instead eating in their classrooms. Although the students were instructed to throw everything away, they still had a Share Table for lunch items and separated their food scraps and trays from packaging that could not be composted.
Everyone at the school is considered to be part of the Green Team. Designated a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School in 2024, Hayes Elementary works to engage all students in sustainability initiatives. Students interested in leadership roles in sustainability are encouraged to apply to be a Green Ambassador. The Green Ambassadors raise awareness and celebrate food waste reduction in other ways as well. For example, they conduct the morning announcements, including reminders to participate in Waste Free Wednesday. Anyone who brings in a waste free snack or lunch can earn a raffle ticket for a prize.
While implementation has not been without its challenges, Ms. Lakatos, her Staff Green Team and the Green Ambassadors all believe the effort has been worthwhile. Showing students the value of food, the importance of sharing with others, and the impact even they as young students can have on the environment and their community has been powerful. Congratulations to Ms. Lakatos and all of the students at Hayes Elementary for their awesome work to reduce food waste and show that this can be done!
