Yarmouth, Maine, July 27, 2023: The North Yarmouth Academy (NYA) Environmental Club secured $2,275 from ecomaine’s Outreach & Recycling 
Committee through their School Waste Diversion Grant Program. The funds will be used to reinstate the on-campus composting program with Garbage-to-Garden. Students in the club authored and submitted the grant during spring semester, shortly after teaming with ecomaine on campus recycling efforts. “We put a lot of work into writing this grant, producing the video section of the application, and planning out what we would use the funds for,” said club member Ethan Smith ’24. “I think I speak for all of the NYA Environmental Club when I say we were overjoyed when Mr. Hach shared the news with us that our application was approved.”
The NYA Environmental Club Faculty Advisor, Bryce Hach, says composting was the next logical step in making NYA as sustainable as possible. “Between morning snack break and lunch, a lot of food scraps are generated on campus at NYA each day. With this grant, we can alter the path of our organic waste from landfills, where it generates the potent greenhouse gas, methane, and instead return those nutrients and moisture to help local gardens and farms in the form of needed compost. This seems like a win-win. We are very thankful to ecomaine for this opportunity, and we look forward to working with our students, staff, and Garbage to Garden to help make this happen.”
Smith shares the positive outlook but knows there is more work to be done. “I believe this is another huge step for the school in bringing us into a modern era of environmental sustainability,” said Smith. “I am so proud of what we have accomplished so far, and composting is another huge milestone for us. Having a good composting and recycling program allows us to prevent so much waste, but it is also just the start.”
The NYA Environmental Club will closely monitor the composting initiative throughout the year. Per terms of the grant, the club is required to submit two progress reports to ecomaine for review, the first by December 15 and the last by April 26 on completion of the project.
North Yarmouth Academy is an independent, college preparatory, coeducational school for toddlers to postgraduate students with an enrollment of 375 students. Since 1814, NYA has fostered integrity, character, and intellect in its students. For more information, please contact NYA at 207-847-5423 or information@nya.org and visit our website at NYA.org.
