There is a new compost system coming to Bloomington High School South. “The MCCSC Food Service and Custodial Service Departments have partnered with Bloomington-based Compost Collection and Consulting Service, in an effort to become more environmentally conscious”, said Matthew Tomrell, the Director of Food Services, in an email to students, families and staff members. This compost system will be implemented to all MCCSC elementary schools and will come later to high schools. 

The new system will include compost bins in the kitchens of MCCSC schools instead of the old system which had them at the tables. “Our plan is to start in the back and all of our food that would otherwise be disregarded would be going into the compost system,” said Westley Penland, the kitchen manager at Bloomington High School South. This new system should be more effective than the last one and, according to Westley, it will reduce waste, be more environmentally friendly, be good for the community and will be less work for our janitorial staff. 

Westley said that he is very excited about the upcoming compost system. He expects that there won’t be a huge amount of waste being composted because the kitchen staff is “still adjusting to the new numbers” this year due to the elimination of the universal free meals. Even though there are some complications,  there are good things to come for MCCSC Cafeterias.