Wollaston Garden Club volunteers will play a key role in the City of Quincy’s current Food Waste Diversion Pilot Program at Quincy High School (QHS) on Coddington Street. The goal of the pilot is to divert food waste so that it doesn't go into the trash and to teach students proper waste disposal.
Contact WGC’s Conservation Committee Chair/member Emily Lebo at
firstname.lastname@example.org or text/call 617-997-1730.
Q. What is food waste diversion?
A. Food waste diversion just means that you are diverting food from the trash into a separate collection. Essentially, the food waste ends up going into the best place for it, a separate "stream" instead of the trash.
Q. When did the pilot begin? When will it end?
A. The pilot began on Monday, February 27 and will continue until the end of the school year. WGC members will start volunteering in March and continue into mid-June.
Q. How will the pilot work?
A. There will be one or two collection stations in QHS's main cafeteria near where students eat lunch. Each station will have three bins for waste: food waste, recycling and trash. Volunteers will stand behind the stations directing the students on where to put their waste.
Q. What days are volunteers needed?
A. Mondays through Fridays except when there's an early release on Wednesdays. Also, there will be no volunteers needed during April school vacation.
Q. What hours will I have to be there?
A. There are three lunch times for the students beginning at 11:00AM and ending at 1:00PM. We are asking people to arrive at 10:45AM to be ready when the first lunch starts and stay until 1:00PM.
Q. What will I be doing?
A. You will be standing at the waste collection area and instructing students on what kind of waste to put in each bin: food waste, recycle or trash.
Q. Will I get a break between lunches?
A. Yes. There is a 12-minute break between lunches, so volunteers will have time to use the restroom or sit for a few minutes.
Q. Will I receive training ahead of time?
A. Ruth Davis will do training over Zoom for all of the members who signed up. That will give you an opportunity to ask questions before volunteering.
Q. How many volunteers will be there each day?
A. We hope to have at least one WGC volunteer there daily. In addition, WGC volunteers, students from QHS Green Team will also be assisting. Our goal is to have each WGC volunteer paired
with a QHS Green Team
Q. Who is running the pilot?
A. The City recently hired Finbar Heaslip to run the pilot. Finbar should be onsite every day to supervise the waste collection. He is creating signs that will be used on the waste containers.
Q. Is there anything I need to do to get ready?
A. Yes. Before anyone can work or volunteer at a school, they must fill out a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) form and get fingerprinted.
Q. Where do I get a CORI form? How do I get fingerprinted?
A. You will go to one of several locations that does fingerprinting. Information about the Statewide Applicant Fingerprint Identification Services (SAFIS) can be found here: https://ma.ibtfingerprint.com We hope to get a group of people to go together and will provide more details as we find out who is interested in volunteering. At most locations your fingers are "printed" electronically meaning they get scanned by a computer. There is no ink involved. If you've been fingerprinted for another reason within three years, you may not have to get fingerprinted now.
Q. Is there a charge for the fingerprinting process?
A. Yes, there is a $35 fee, but WGC will reimburse you. Just complete a WGC expense voucher and submit to Emily at email@example.com?
Q. How do I sign up?
A. After you complete the CORI form and make an appointment to have the fingerprinting done, you'll receive an email with a link to an online calendar that you will use to fill in the days that you are available.