Leftover bits of school lunches never go to waste at Learning Gate Community School in Lutz. Instead, about 30 pounds of uneaten food goes to the compost pile or the digester.
The process of turning garbage into science is part of a partnership the school has with University of South Florida.
Robert Bair is a Ph.D. student who helped bring the digester to Learning Gate.
“Our entire project is focused on the “nasties,” because we think there is a lot of value to this,” said Bair.
“So there we are, interested in connecting Learning Gate students, particularly the higher levels,” said Dr. Daniel Yeh, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at USF. “But we also want to engage every age from kindergarten upwards, basically to connect them with the research that’s done in higher education.”
Here's how it works: The kids separate their food waste. The produce and other compost items go in one bin. The meat, milk and fish head to the digester. It is put down a garbage disposal with water.
Then it goes into an old water heater that has been converted to a microbe neighborhood that breaks down the waste. After about a hundred days, biogas and fertilizer are created.
“What the food waste is being converted to is a renewable energy source. So you can think of natural gas, which is primarily methane, which is what’s in the biogas,” Bair said.
There is also leftover sludge that is actually a great fertilizer. It is used to grow vegetables in the school’s greenhouse. The ongoing science project will eventually help power the school and the students are at the heart of it all.
“When they see all of this in action it makes such a big difference to their thought process and how they move forward in their life and the choices that they make,” said Christine Miller, a garden teacher at Learning Gate.
USF and Learning Gate have been working together for a little more than a year. The students will also get to make mini-digesters of their own to understand exactly how it’s done.