Kittatinny looks to green school

By Jessica Lopez
NEWTON — Over the coming months, Superintendent Craig Hutcheson hopes to "green up" Kittatinny Regional High School.

Hutcheson is exploring several projects that may help keep Kittatinny reduce its carbon footprint, as he reported to the board of education last month.

One project Hutcheson is exploring is a composting program for the caféteria. Hutcheson said he first explored a program about seven years ago that would compost organic waste from the caféteria.

“The program was in its infancy, but at the time we were not able to make it happen so we have resurrected the idea of seeing if we can add this type of program to our school,” said Hutcheson.

The school may be able to use the compost in its student-run garden, at one end of the school, called the Hope Garden.

Greening up a school is not a new concept.

California, for example, is one of the leading states when it comes to being green. Santa Cruz County has a Green School Program for educating parents, teachers and students on “environmental topics including resource conservation, storm water runoff, water quality and conservation, energy conservation, recycling, and waste reduction. The goal is to support the county’s schools… [to] model wise resource use, eliminate waste, reduce non-point source pollution, and train students to conserve scarce resources like energy and water.”

“We are also looking to add motion sensor lights in the classroom and to other areas along with submitting any grants that will help us in this realm,” Hutcheson said.

Hutcheson would also like to start a program in which upper grade students educate the seven and eighth graders on the importance of greening the campus.

High schoolers would present programs to the middle grade students, starting with proper recycling techniques for organics and other waste.