As part of education for sustainable development, interventions led by the Syndicat Center Hérault (SCH) are organized this month for students in sixth and fifth grades at Salagou college. The sixth graders addressed the themes of composting and eco-citizenship. It all starts with the definition of waste; the answers are flowing: “a tangerine peel that we bury in the forest”, “a paper that we throw in the courtyard”, “a branch of a fig tree that has broken”. “As soon as we abandon an object to get rid of it, whatever the material of the object, its use and the place where we throw it, we speak of waste”confirms Magali Arino, host of the SCH.
Separate collection system
She continues with the interest of composting: “Just like humans, plants are living beings that need to breathe, drink, sleep, evacuate, and feed themselves, but they have the power to be autotrophic, that is to say they generate their own own food.”
The desire to promote this natural process gave birth on January 1, 2024, to the law making it compulsory in France to set up a separate collection system for food waste. The students thus make the link with their practices at home: “At home, we have a green bin for vegetable peelings”; “we have a composter in the garden”.
In 2022, nearly 3,000 kg of food collected
The opportunity for Magali Arino to remind you of the good reflexes to have: “Garden plants should be placed in the recycling center so that they are crushed upon arrival on the composting platform, while kitchen waste is collected by local communities.” Finally, she recalls the mission of the Syndicat Center Hérault, a public service which manages waste. Created in 1998, the SCH promotes the development of virtuous practices, in collaboration with wine growers and market gardeners very present in the rural areas of Clermontais, the Hérault Valley, and Lodévois-Larzac.
-In 2022, 2,903 kg of food (i.e. 35 kg/person per year) and 5,137 kg of plants were collected on the composting platform in Aspiran, commissioned in 2003. Fifth grade students, for their part , will discover the Soumont waste landfill center to understand waste treatment and the ecological impact of landfills, and will discuss “Zero waste” alternatives and the circular economy. Enough to sow seeds to make young generations responsible eco-citizens.
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