How a 16-year-old helped her high school to compost
cONcORD, N.H. — Getting involved in local government isn’t every teenager’s idea of a good time.
but flo Dapice, who is 16 and a junior at Hopkinton High School, said serving on the town’s Energy Steering committee has been “super fun.” Except for her, she said, all of the members are adults.
She started working on the committee after she was elected to be the student representative on the town’s school board.
She said it’s empowering to take action on climate issues in her own community and it makes facing climate change feel more manageable, even as she’s been disappointed in New Hampshire politicians who she says aren’t tackling the problem.
“I definitely have an opportunity to make a difference even if I can’t vote, and even if I know that bills I support will get shot down,” she said.
Dapice believes making changes in her own school and close to home will make the biggest difference. One example is a composting program she helped start at her school.
The school already had a recycling program, but students in the Environmental Action club wanted to start a compost program. They applied for grant funding and received $8,000, which they used to buy waste sorting receptacles and rotating composters for the district.
last year, the students started a campaign to get their peers to compost lunch waste.
This year, they started a trash monitor program, where students stand in front of trash cans in the cafeteria and remind people to compost. They also ran an audit to see if their efforts are making a difference. They learned that around 30 percent of what ended up in the trash could go into compost.
Dapice said this year’s audit showed a slight improvement over last year, “but still not great.” Now, they’re considering ways to keep improving.
“It’s hard to change the culture,” Dapice said.