A ten-week summer program is offered at seven sites for students in the district. “Green Guardian” activities were incorporated into each week of the summer program. Forty staff from these sites were trained in waste and toxicity reduction before the first summer. Weekly activities during both summers included field trips, speakers, art projects, and take-home activities. Letters were sent home to the parents both summers explaining the program and asking them to participate by doing things such as packing a no-waste lunch. Students separated, weighed, and composted food scraps during the program, diverting an average of 17% daily to composting. Approximately half of the students surveyed stated they would continue to bring a no-waste lunch to school. Parent Green Teams are being formed to address additional waste reduction issues within the schools. The curriculum developed for this project was shared at a statewide conference.

As a returning grantee in 2007-08, Kids & Company took the waste reduction curriculum created in their first grant and trained three other sites (Hopkins, St. Louis Park & Robbinsdale) to conduct waste reduction activities. To date, 360 students participated in the mini camps completing activities such as decorating a reusable cloth tote bag and making non-toxic cleaners. Two of the sites also incorporated a zero waste lunch program including educating the parents and tracking their daily lunch waste. Additionally, six day sessions and trainings were conducted for 262 individuals, students, parents, and educators. The curriculum and activity totes will be used each year during the summer mini camps.