Chatham Township Receives Grant for an A500 Rocket Composter from Sustainable Jersey Funded by Walmart

Elmsford, NY, September 09, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Chatham School District will set the standard in Environmental Sustainability

Chatham School district is the proud recipient of a $25,000 grant from Sustainable Jersey. These funds will be used to acquire a Rocket Composter. The program “On-Site School Food Composting” will reduce food waste, the school’s carbon footprint and expenses, improve community recycling, produce compost, and provide sustainability education and outreach to students and other community members.

Composting is a natural process of decomposition to produce a rich, fertile soil amendment when combining plant, animal and other organic materials. Students will learn a new appreciation of natural cycles and resources; by putting the compost back into the soil they will be giving back valuable nutrients that will help to start the cycle all over again.

The Rocket composter is also a wonderful educational tool, teachers will use it to explain concepts such as: life cycle, ecosystems, and the importance of decomposition while providing nutrients back to the earth. When giving compost back to the soil, students learn and develop the habit of sustainability, a valuable practice for the rest of their lives.

The Rocket® is an in-vessel composter for on-site treatment of organic wastes. These wastes can be food waste, meat and fish, garden and horticultural. The Rocket® composter will help Chatham High School to manage their organic waste problems while contributing to the environment.

By not having to transport the food waste to landfills Chatham High School will be eliminating hundreds of tons of CO2 emissions per year as well as methane emissions, created from rotting food in landfills. Compost will be use on school gardens and green areas, closing the recycling loop.

The Rocket® composter is a cost effective green solution to the problem of organic waste disposal. The Rocket® composter provides a clean and simple solution that allows food waste to be treated after its disposal, within a reasonably small area with minimal operator interaction. In 14 days, NATH Sustainable Solutions systems transform the food waste into compost, which can be used for lawns and other green areas, thus closing the loop of recycling!

Gerardo Soto, Managing Director of NATH Sustainable Solutions, said, “This is the first Rocket® composter that will be used in a public school district in the US , Chatham’s education and on-site composting program will set the example for other municipalities, school districts, creating a ripple effect nationwide where other schools, institutions, and communities will follow.”

"It's a model for the rest of New Jersey State and a project that will have a demonstrable impact on sustainability and will be a model that can be replicated by other towns,” said Patricia Collington, Chatham Township Environmental Commission Member.

“There are few K-12 schools in the US that compost onsite. We are missing a great opportunity to create positive sustainable habits for our future generations. When giving compost back to the soil, students learn and develop the habit of sustainability, a valuable practice for the rest of their lives,” continued Gerardo Soto.

Tidy Planet Ltd, the Rocket® composter manufacturer has been creating significant success stories with this innovative product in the UK during the past 12 years. NATH Sustainable Solutions, which distributes the Rocket® composter in the US, has been working closely with Chatham Township and Chatham school district members to help with the town sustainability efforts.

NATH Sustainable Solutions wants to thank, Peter Marcalus NATH Sustainable Solutions’ independent sales representative in New Jersey who has been instrumental in making this project happen, Chatham township environmental commission members, Chatham school district members, Chartwells School dining and Sustainable Jersey for contributing to the education of our future leaders.

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