🎃 Your pumpkins are in the news: Omaha dropped off 16,000 pounds of them last month. Some are feeding forest-roaming pigs (watch them blissfully chow down). Others will feed future gardens (see them composting in this KETV story).

📈 Big numbers from our partners: A bronze STARS rating for sustainability has jumped to silver for Creighton University. That’s thanks to a report announcing they reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 38%. Conagra’s Omaha campus also broke a new record: they are now recycling 4.35 tons and composting 7.95 tons a month. A year ago, all of that was going to the landfill.

This month’s rundown:

• ✍️ Tip: Marian High School’s lunchroom achieved zero waste. Find out how more can do the same.

• 🎁 Guide: How you can have a low-waste (and low-budget) holiday season.

• 🔥 Cautionary Tale: How you can keep our trucks from going up in flames.

• 🥳 New eco-organizations to support: A new house plant store and two restaurants have joined the eco club.

• 🌿 Compost Club: A new Elkhorn drop-off site awaits you.

Marian now has a zero-waste lunch program.

Schools have made a post-Covid composting comeback. With 25 of them back in action, any given school day sees about 12,000 students in the Omaha area rescuing its food waste.

It’s having a measurable impact: Central, Nebraska’s largest high school, went from 78 bags of daily lunchroom waste to just 8. Omaha South is composting 16 feet of trays a day. Meanwhile, Duchesne Academy reached its zero waste goal for its entire building last year.

And the hits keep coming: According to Aleecia Cotton and Nick Miller, teachers and moderators of Marian’s Sustainability Club, they are now sending less than 10% of lunchroom waste to the landfill.

Read the blog for how their student “Compost Queens” are saving the day. And get hard-won insights on how your school can do the same.

Have a low-waste holiday season.

Wanna save money and reduce your waste this December? Of course you do! That’s why we did the heavy lifting for you. So relax and read our 7-step guide. It has links to eco-friendly gift ideas you can order in moments. Or better yet — how to avoid spending any money. Consider it our holiday gift to you. 😊

Our truck almost caught fire.

Our driver looked in his side mirror last week and noticed smoke billowing from his tailgate. He quickly emptied his load of trash onto the street. The scene above unfolded.

Thankfully, nobody was hurt. But it resurfaced a brutal reminder: what you toss in your bin can risk equipment and lives. See the recent fire that broke out at First Star. We often talk about what’s recyclable. But rarely do we discuss the things that should never go in any of your bins. So here it is …

The most dangerous items you should never place in your bin:

• Lithium batteries

• Ammunition

• Hot coals

• Cooking oils

• Solvents 

• Paint, stain, and solvents

• Mercury thermometers

• Gas and gas cans

• Electronics

• Prescription drugs

• Fluorescent light bulbs

• Lawn chemicals

• Tires

• Asbestos

• Mothballs

• Fire and carbon monoxide detectors

For info on where to put these items, check out the wonderful Omaha Recycling Guide. And wanna know what caused the fire? A gas can. 🤦