A Pinckney student starts a composting system on school grounds

PINCKNEY — Sam Baghdadchi hopes the composting system at Pinckney Community High School will inspire future generations of students to embrace sustainability principles.

Baghdadchi, a senior at PCHS, started a composting system on school grounds as part of his Eagle Scout project.

Baghdadchi is a member of the PHCS Ecology Club, which aims to introduce sustainable development measures into the school. It’s a relatively small club, with about 10 members in addition to advisor Stacy Trosin, but it has big goals. Club members hope PCHS can become Green School in Michigan by the state of Michigan.

“We are major supporters of environmental education and that is our focus,” Baghdadchi said.

Baghdadchi came up with the idea for a composting system as part of his Eagle Scout project. He raised approximately $1,300 through donations and community fundraising.

The composters were built at the end of August and have been operating since September. Members of the Eco Club collect unused fruits and vegetables during lunch for composting.

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Baghdadchi said the club tries to incorporate composting into the school culture. Starting one day a week, club members collect unused food several times a week. Baghdadchi noted that food waste in schools could be reduced by up to 30%.

“Every student is very open to it because it is so simple,” Baghdadchi said. “We have worked very hard to make sure this is an accessible and easy program for all students to participate in, and it has been successfully implemented.”

For the project, Baghdadchi had to develop his own plans. He created composters made of wood. Food remains are placed in containers and covered with brown matter, i.e. leaves and other dried materials. It creates a micro-event and, if done correctly, will become compost within 30 days, Baghdadchi said.

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PHCS Director Julia McBride noted that Bagdadchi has worked with the Livingston County Health Department, the Putnam Township Fire Department, Pinckney Community Schools building and grounds management and PCHS administration to revitalize the composting project.

“He did it professionally and persistently, and now he can be seen enthusiastically working with his peers over lunch to get the composting system up and running,” McBride said. “It’s a pleasure to watch Sam in action and our students learn what they can recycle through composting to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill.”

Baghdadchi plans to study environmental science and public policy at university. He said it was an honor for him to create a legacy project at PCHS.

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“I know the next generation will carry it on because they learned from us and they will carry it on. This is absolutely amazing,” Baghdadchi said. “I’m very proud of everyone involved and I know it will go far.

“In fact, although this task seemed difficult, we realized that schools can become more sustainable if they have organization, people to help work on the project and support from administrators. Every school in our district and in general can implement a composting program.”

— Contact reporter Evan Sasiela at [email protected]. Follow him on X @SalsaEvan.

This article originally appeared on the Livingston Daily: A Pinckney student starts a composting system on school grounds