Life Lab

Life Lab cultivates children's love of learning, healthy food, and nature through garden-based education.

School Compost Survey: A summary of  school compost survey are described on this blog page. Check it out to see how compost functions in schools! The survey is still open and we would love to hear about your school compost.

Whether you are attempting to cut your school districts food waste by using municipal composting facilities, adding a compost bin to your school garden, or looking for compost curriculum these pages are for you!

School Wide Composting Programs

District Wide Composting Programs

Lessons and Curriculum

School Composting Manuals and Resources

Life Lab’s tips  on successful school garden composting

 

This school composting slide show describes all the logistics needed to start a compost system at your school, talks about how to start the compost, the collection of food wastes on campus, and school compost maintenance.

The Northeast Recycling Council created a guide to school composting options. It details what systems work for different types of schools and has tips for different stages of the compost process. This resource also provides information on different bins capacities to decompose food scraps.

Want to compost your school cafeteria lunch scraps? Here is a 98 page compost manual made by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection that shows the steps to establish and maintain a successful school-wide composting program.

This two page manual created by Davis RISE program describes the steps needed to incorporate a vermicomposting or composting system into your school.

Post this basic compost recipe near your school compost as a reminder to the kids what ingredients are needed to make a healthy compost. Click here for a general compost recipe.

What’s wrong with my compost? Here is a guide from Cornell to help diagnose your compost.

Away with School Waste – Life Lab’s Guide to School Waste Reduction and Composting

Vermicomposting Examples

Life Lab’s Worm Composting resources and videos

The Worm Guide is available from CalRecycle for download. The guide describes how food scraps are transformed into nutrient rich vermicompost and has a variety of interdisciplinary classroom activities.

Subpod has a comprehensive guide to school vermicomposting. They also sell bin systems

This vermicomposting video created by Life Lab shows the different options educators have to build a worm bin, it also describes the capacity of different worm bins to convert food scraps, and how to make a vermicompost bin from scratch. This video also includes how to harvest worm castings and how to maintain a worm bin.

Bin Examples

View Life Lab’s school compost photo gallery click on compost.

Photo Album of DC school garden compost systems

Cornell Waste Management Institute created a booklet filled with compost designs. It includes what materials you need and instructions to construct the design. Click here to view 10 different compost designs!

Growing Gardens from Garbage sells insulated compost bins for cold weather composting and describes how to build an insulated compost bin.

These school composting pages were compiled as a senior project for the Environmental Studies Department at the University of California Santa Cruz by Savannah Rugg a senior intern with Life Lab.

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22 hours ago

Life Lab

Local Friends!! We need your support! Head to your favorite @newleafcmarket between June 7th-20th and vote for Life Lab! 🗳️🗳️🗳️Simply bring a reusable bags when you shop at New Leaf Markets and you’’ll receive a Envirotoken worth 10 cents to donate to the nonprofit organization of their choice.Voting will take place in all New Leaf store locations, and voting can be done in person only. The top 6 vote recipients in each store will receive Envirotoken donations each month, July 1 – December 31!Please spread the word to your friends and family or tag them below! Thanks for supporting Life Lab in all the ways!

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1 week ago

Life Lab

Registration is now open for our Certified Garden Educator Course!!! Don’t wait, space is limited and is expected to sell out! Click the Cert Course link in our profile or visit lifelab.org/educator-certification-program for course and registration info. Here’s what past participants are saying🌱 "The coaching sessions were very helpful! I would end a coaching session so motivated and ready to try the new things I learned!"🌱 "This is the best course! We use elements from this course every day! Thank you!"🌱 "I am LOVING these courses. I finally feel like I have a tribe of people who understand what it is we are trying to do." 🌱 “I am constantly amazed at how thoughtfully and meaningfully entwined you make garden education pollinated with math, science, social-emotional learning, and literacy.”We hope you can join us!

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4 weeks ago

Life Lab

🌱 Registration for our Garden Educator Certification Course opens on Monday, May 15th! 🌱 Our 6th cohort begins September 5, 2023.Details, registration info, and more can be found here in our profile link or visit: lifelab.org/educator-certification-program/Here’s what members of our first 5 cohorts are saying…🌱 I am LOVING these courses. I finally feel like I have a [group]of people who understand what it is we are trying to do.🌱Being in this course, I’ve really started to identify as a garden educatorand not just someone who maintains the garden.🌱I love how this course has provided me with the tools to inspire students to learn and have fun in the garden. 🌱The online sessions are inclusive, fun, move at a good pace and are interesting.

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3 months ago

Life Lab

Join our team! Life Lab is hiring!!! Open positions include Development Director, Bilingual Community Liaison, and Garden Instructors. More positions are coming soon! 🌱Apply now! Click link in our bio or visit lifelab.org/jobs🌱Or tag your friends below and help share this exciting opportunity!

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3 months ago

Life Lab

Please join us & @greenschoolyards on March 8 at 11:00 AM PT for the first installment of a five-part webinar series on the wide-ranging benefits of the Living Schoolyards Act, a groundbreaking bill that will direct important federal resources towards transforming school grounds into living schoolyards.This session will focus on the equity, educational, and academic benefits of living schoolyards and feature speakers from @thenaaee @tenstrands @naturebasededucation and Life Lab. 🌱Register for this free lecture series and learn more about how you can help us build support for the Living Schoolyard Act: www.greenschoolyards.org/living-schoolyards-act

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3 months ago

Life Lab

Register now for our Responsive Classroom Management in the Outdoors Workshop and receive an Early-Bird Registration Discount! 🌱When? April 21st, 9:30AM-3:30PM Where? Life Lab’s Garden Classroom, located on the beautiful campus of UCSC. What? How can we possibly manage 30 students in an Outdoor Classroom?! Participants in this workshop will explore best practices for establishing and maintaining a positive, engaging culture of learning and fun in a garden setting. Together we will experience and discuss setting the tone for equitable and inclusive instruction; garden class routines; station rotations; and specific techniques to maximize student engagement and participation. Graduate education units available. 🌱 To register and for more details please visit: lifelab.org/responsive-classroom-management-the-in-outdoors/For registration info on other upcoming Life Lab workshops please visit: lifelab.org/gcworkshops/

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4 months ago

Life Lab

🌱Calling all Garden Educators!🌱We are excited to announce Life Lab’s 2023 Workshop schedule! Join us for a workshop at our Garden Classroom to get inspiration and information on bringing learning to life in the garden! 2023 Workshops:🌻 Responsive Classroom Management 4/21/23 🌱The Growing Classroom 8/24-8/25/23🔎 NGSS 9/14/23🍎 Plant to Plate 10/12/23To register and for more info please visit: lifelab.org/gcworkshops P. S. Sign up 14 days in advance to receive a discount on your registration! #LifeLab #gardeneducation #gardeneducator #outdoorclassroom #education #schoolgarden #gardeninginschools #gardenclassroom #cookingclassroom

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7 months ago

Life Lab

Become a Life Lab Certified Gardener! 🌱🌻Based on the success of our first four cohorts of Life Lab-Certified Garden Educators, we are excited to announce that registration is now open for individuals to register and be part of our fifth cohort starting January 23rd, 2023! We’ve put together a series of 4 on-line courses that will guide and support educators in becoming a Life Lab-Certified School Garden Educator. Upon successful completion of the 4 courses, participants will receive a certificate and the distinction of being a Life Lab-Certified Garden Educator. Each course will last 4 weeks long and include 4 synchronous meetings, at-home work, and a unique coaching model. The total commitment for the full series is 16 weeks. Check out our website for more information! Registration for the full certification series is now open. Please share with others who are looking for ideas and inspiration in the garden! There are 24 spots available and we sold out in our last 4 certification series. We hope you can join us!Life Lab offers a limited number of course fee reductions based on need and anticipated impact. To apply for financial assistance, follow the link below. Scholarship applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis between now and December 1st, 2022 or until all funds have been awarded.

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8 months ago

Life Lab

Thanks Shmuel! and all those that joined the Starlight workday.

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Stock up your Garden Classroom

Life Lab provides truly inspiring training. Their breadth of experience, joy for teaching, and commitment to sharing knowledge highlight the best practices in food and garden education.
Erica CurryTraining and Professional Development ManagerFoodCorps
Thank you for such a wonderful field trip experience! Your leaders did such a great job at keeping our kids engaged.
Sheila BrickenKindergarten TeacherSan Lorenzo Valley Elementary
Terry had another awesome two weeks at Life Lab. I think he learns more there than in any other part of his year. School is great, but he’s passionate (and often dogmatic) about what he learns there.
Tara NeierCamp ParentSummer camp mom
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