The members of the “Green Team” at California School of Culinary Arts (CSCA) have concocted a recipe for easing the school’s burden on the environment. The recycling and conservation efforts of the CSCA student body have diverted 35,000 pounds of recyclables from the landfill and have saved 30,000 gallons of water each month.
The city of Pasadena has recognized these efforts and is honoring CSCA as an Outstanding Recycler of 2005 as part of Environmental Awareness Month. The award will be presented at a meeting of the city council at the Pasadena Senior Center Nov. 7 at 6:30 pm.
“The school’s goal is to become as self-sustaining as possible and send the chefs of tomorrow throughout the world with knowledge and tools to reduce waste in their future operations,” CSCA Facilities Director George Helm says.
A conservation enthusiast from the Bay Area, Helm recognized the school’s need to save water and energy and to reduce waste. In April 2005, he began implementing a recycling program, first by outfitting pre-rinse sprayers in the schools’ kitchens and fixtures in its bathrooms with water-saving devices to conserve more than 360,000 gallons of water every year. CSCA has also planned to create a water-saving organic garden on the school’s roof for students to use.
In the first four months of the program, the “Green Team,” comprised of CSCA students, instructors and staff, diverted 18 tons of refuse from landfill disposal by conserving and recycling items like cardboard, paper, glass, plastic and aluminum.
“The judges were very impressed that the school’s recycling program is an integral part of each day’s curriculum and that their recycling efforts have collected such a wide variety of materials,” Arlington Rodgers Jr. of the Department of Public Works says.
More information on the California School of Culinary Arts is available online at www.csca.edu.