Towards the end of the 22/23 school year, a group of AP Environmental Science students from FHS presented a proposal to collect wood waste in the FHS cafeteria. The project was approved and the students began making arrangements to incorporate waste diversion to their school cafeteria. Food waste gathered in the cafeteria is collected by the City of Fayetteville and processed at their composting facility. The compost will later be returned to Fayetteville Public Schools and utilized in the school gardens. Students have opportunities to work in the gardens, learn about gardening, and even eat the fruits and vegetables they grow. Talk about closing the loop!

Thanks to a grant from the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation, FPS was able to purchase an exciting new teaching tool known as a Blender Bike. A Blender Bike is a stationary bike with a blender attachment. The blender is "pedal powered", meaning it does not require any electricity! Students hop on, pedal away, and at the end are left with a tasty treat. This teaching tool provides ample opportunities for students to learn about subjects such as health, energy conservation, engineering, physics, nutrition, and so much more.

A group of FHS AP Environmental Science students spent this school year looking at the environmental and economic impacts of waste in the cafeteria. The project began with conducting a 5 day waste audit in partnership with the City of Fayetteville Recycling and Trash team. During the audit, all cafeteria waste was sorted as compostable, recyclable, or landfill. Each category was then weighed and recorded. The results? Our students found that 63.2% of the waste produced in the cafeteria is compostable. They took their findings to the school board and proposed a pilot food waste collection program for the 23/24 school year. The pilot was approved, and food waste collection will begin in August 2023.