Zero Waste
In 2001 Roland Park Country School started to reduce its waste being sent to the Baltimore Incinerator or Texas Landfill, by separating out the items that could be recycled – mainly plastic bottles and aluminum cans. In 2008, Baltimore City started Single Stream Recycling, and RPCS joined in by putting as many as 30-40 bins of recyclables on the curb along Roland Avenue on pick-up days..With single stream recycling many more items could be recycled and our waste stream continued to get smaller. We also encouraged community members to pack “trash-free” lunches. Now Baltimore City collects recyclables on campus once each week. In April, 2010 RPCS began to collect biodegradable waste to be recycled at a composting facility. Waste Neutral collects the compostable waste and delivers it to Wilmington Organic Recycling Center. The school switched from plastic tableware to compostable products to reduce the waste even further. With the separation of compostables, the school waste stream decreased even further. The material that is sent away to be composted, is returned as compost for use on the school gardens.