Wearing aprons and gloves, a dozen student members of the Environmental Club at Columbus Bishop Watterson High School recently sorted trash into bins for a waste audit at the school.
Leading them through the audit was Dominique Hadad, a 2016 Watterson graduate whose company, Green Scope Consulting, helps local businesses reduce food waste and potentially bridge the food insecurity gap.
Hadad discovered a passion for environmental issues while a student at Bishop Watterson assisting teacher Will Reiss, who has since passed away.
“Mr. Reiss was very passionate about making the school more green, and that exposed me to how much I cared about making green transitions for organizations,” said Hadad, a 2020 Ohio State University graduate with a degree in industrial systems engineering.
Green Scope was launched after Hadad won the 2021 Ohio State President’s Prize, a grant of $100,000 to fund a project.
Watterson senior Sophia Schroeder, whose older brother was a classmate of Hadad’s, was inspired to get involved with environmental issues after observing her brother’s work with such efforts at the school. Schroeder has spearheaded the revival of the Environmental Club, which was less active after Mr. Reiss retired and had all but disappeared during the pandemic.
“We want everyone to realize that trying to recycle and at least making an effort to live more sustainably is possible,” Schroeder said. “We want people to know they do make an impact, even if they think they don’t, and that it’s their choice whether the impact is good or bad.”
“For us it’s about the care for God’s creation,” senior Eliza Thomas said. “It’s very clear that as a student body there’s so much in the back of our minds that we could actually be actively participating in. How our club is helping is a really nice form of prayer, to me. It’s God’s world, and we have a responsibility to care for it.”
Club moderator and theology teacher Ali Reis said the club has been taking an incremental approach with the student body, starting with ensuring that classrooms have recycling bins and then making recycling pickups routine. The waste audit was the next step in determining the focus of their education efforts. Green Scope will present audit results to the club in a couple of weeks.
For the audit, waste cans in the cafeteria were labeled for “recycling,” “composting” and “trash.”
“It was surprising to see what people thought was recyclable versus what actually is,” senior Ava Fultz said.
Club members had noticed during classroom recycling collections that students had tossed tissues into the recycling bins, mistakenly thinking they are recyclable. During the lunch waste audit, they found that many students consider only produce compostable, not crackers or tater tots, for example.
There was an air of teamwork and camaraderie as the students sorted their classmates’ lunch refuse.
“When I first met Dominique, she told me that environmental work was a ‘thankless job,’ and that’s very true,” Schroeder said. “Mr. Reiss is remembered so fondly because he did a thankless job with grace and dignity and inspired others to be as selfless.
“When we ask people to join in our effort, we’re asking them to resemble Mr. Reiss in that way. We are asking them to do something that will at first inconvenience them and will challenge them to live not only thinking of those around them but also of those who will inherit the earth after them.”
Hadad credited Schroeder with motivating the club and assembling the audit crew.
“They’re learning so much, and when they get to college they’ll feel more confident to continue living with environmental consciousness and educating others,” said Hadad, who has managed student volunteers involved in composting at Ohio State.
“We see it at Ohio State. The students who come from local schools where they were involved in recycling efforts are more effective leaders in this area.
“It feels full circle for me to remember how it felt to be in the classroom, wanting to impact change, and now to be back at Bishop Watterson seeing that students are motivated to do this work,” Hadad said.
“It will be helpful to put numbers to what is being discarded. We’ll be able to take those numbers and suggest strategies, things that are practical for Watterson to put in place. What really matters is that students learn they can take actions to make a difference.”
Considering possible next steps, junior Jason Thomas said he would like to see the school begin to compost.
“There’s a lot of waste, not only at school but all over, and it would be nice to know that something is being saved.”
Reis said the future is bright for the Environmental Club.
“We have some very motivated students who are willing to step up in the future,” she said, “and I have no doubt they are going keep this effort moving forward at Bishop Watterson.”
To inquire about a waste audit, contact Hadad at dominique.hadad@greenscopeconsulting.com.