From Compost to Cleanups: How Ocean Guardian Students Serve as Environmental Stewards

By Alyssa Leadingham

November 5, 2026

This past school year 12,447 students across the nation led environmental stewardship projects on their campus and in their local communities through participation in the NOAA Ocean Guardian School program.

A NOAA Ocean Guardian School forms a commitment to the protection and conservation of its local watersheds, the world's ocean, and special ocean areas, like national marine sanctuaries through the implementation of a school- or community-based conservation project. Since its inception in 2009, this program has grown to include 96 schools from 18 states and three U.S. territories.

As part of this program, each participating school selects a program pathway that lays the foundation for their stewardship work. Program pathways span the following categories: Watershed Restoration, Marine Debris, Schoolyard Garden/Habitat, Energy & Ocean Health, and 6Rs (Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Rot, Recycle).

Watershed Restoration

Under the Watershed Restoration pathway, schools partake in various restoration projects such as wetland restoration, wildlife habitat creation, and shoreline stabilization.

Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo Public Charter School in Keaukaha, Hawaiʻi, explored a new aspect of watershed restoration by directly addressing the decline in coral reef cover across the Hawaiian Archipelago, including Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary. For the first year under the Watershed Restoration pathway, the overall goals were to build pilina (relationships) with the local marine ecosystem and spark interest in the students to protect coastlines in their backyard. Through hands-on conservation activities with researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo- Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resource Center, 25 students in fifth grade learned how to mālama (care for) corals, broadened their understanding about coral biology, and examined human impacts.

Environmentally resilient corals that the students referred to as "corals of opportunity" were collected, grown, monitored, observed, and measured over the school year. For the final capstone, students outplanted corals, which will aid in restoring parts of Puhi Bay that have low coral cover.The students will monitor the corals during the second year of the project, among other activities.

Marine Debris

Schools that focus their stewardship efforts on addressing marine debris often dedicate their projects towards reducing single-use plastics in school, promoting the use of reusable alternatives, conducting routine campus and/or beach cleanups, and advocating for the establishment of recycling stations throughout their local community.

For the past 11 years, students at Monterey Bay Charter School (Pacific Grove, California) have managed stewardship projects under the marine debris and schoolyard garden/habitat pathways. Most recently, they partnered with Save Our Shores to adopt a local beach in their community, bordering Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Through hosting regular beach clean-ups (alongside a dedicated group of parent volunteers), Monterey Bay Charter School students have helped keep Del Monte Beach free from marine debris. Part of their project budget went towards the installation of permanent signage at the entrances to Del Monte Beach that display beautiful student artwork in an effort to educate beach visitors about their dedication to keeping the coastline clean.

At the start of the school year, Monterey Bay Charter School students were recognized by their local congressman, Jimmy Panetta, for their 10-year dedication to ocean conservation. This recognition inspired students and staff to collaborate on their campus' first Zero Waste Procurement Policy. This policy ensures that wherever possible, Monterey Bay Charter School shall aim to procure goods and services in a manner that prioritizes waste prevention, reuse, durability, and environmentally preferable materials. Moving forward all campus purchasing decisions will aim to minimize single-use items, unnecessary packaging, and materials known to contribute to marine pollution.

Schoolyard Garden/Habitat

As part of the Schoolyard Garden/Habitat pathway, schools often focus on creating or improving school gardens and schoolyard habitats, with an emphasis on things like native plants, low water use, and rain catchment systems, while clearly connecting these activities to the health and preservation of the local watershed and/or ocean.

The Montessori Children's School of Key West (Key West, Florida)  has been dedicated to establishing a school garden on campus. As part of this effort, students spent this past school year developing and maintaining a robust campus-wide composting program. Staff members were trained and acted as guides as students learned about how to properly compost. Through the use of tumbling bins and vermi-composting bins (using earthworms to break down organic waste), each grade level had access to composting food waste. This exposure led to an increased working knowledge of what is compostable and encouraged students to be more mindful about their food waste.

Students were engaged in hands-on activities related to composting throughout the school year. Each classroom conducted a pumpkin vermi-composting experiment to witness firsthand how composting breaks down food waste. In addition to conducting experiments, students were also involved in constructing the vermi-composting bins. Many students were excited to don safety glasses and use power tools as part of this process. As a result of their enthusiasm for composting, seven families followed suit and established their own take-home vermi-composting bins

Energy and Ocean Health

Energy and Ocean Health is a broad category that provides ample opportunities to address energy reduction through school energy audits, carbon footprint calculations, the adoption of energy reduction campaigns (i.e.,"power down" campaign, "no idling" campaign, bike to school
days, light bulb/computer energy saving plans, etc.), and the installation of clean energy alternatives across campus.

Morro Bay Montessori Family Partnership Charter School (Los Osos, California) has been dedicated towards addressing energy consumption and waste through the adoption of a years-long clothing repair and swap program. This campus-wide movement was originally inspired by the students' interest in textile waste and encouraged the campus community to determine a unique solution that students could embrace.

Their first approach was to host two clothing swap parties where students and families could engage in a "shopping spree for free" of gently used clothing. In addition to swapping clothing, students were encouraged to repurpose worn items, repair damaged clothing, create educational public service announcements, and use artwork as an outreach tool to share about their efforts. Together, students at Morro Bay Montessori Family Partnership Charter School created a cost-saving, community-building opportunity to optimistically address the excess energy consumption and pollution associated with textile waste. 

6Rs (Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Rot, Recycle)

Schools that engage in addressing the 6Rs (Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Rot and Recycle) often adopt school-wide recycling/composting programs, redesign and monitor school-based wastewater systems, establish a school-wide green purchasing program, and host zero waste lunch programs.

At Tongass School of the Arts & Sciences (Ketchikan, Alaska) students are actively addressing waste on campus and in their local community through composting, using reusable alternatives to single-use plastics on campus, conducting routine campus and community cleanups, and encouraging community members to take part in their stewardship efforts. All of these efforts help keep the nearby Ketchikan Creek clean and educate the student body about their individual and collective impact on the global ocean.

A standout part of their project this past school year involved the design and installation of Beach Bucket Cleanup stations at their local beach. These stations consist of reusable buckets, tongs, and step-by-step instructions on how to take part in a beach cleanup. Through a partnership with the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Public Works Department the cleanup stations were installed at the entrance to Rotary Beach in May. In addition to this exciting new community resource, students also engaged in public presentations to encourage their community members to join the collective movement to reduce trash and tackle marine debris.

Student Impact on National Marine Sanctuaries

National Marine Sanctuaries help to safeguard important natural, cultural, and historical marine ecosystems while encouraging sustainable public use, responsible recreation, and commercial activities. As part of the NOAA Ocean Guardian School program, students learn and form connections to their nearby national marine sanctuary and the global ocean. More importantly, their stewardship efforts contribute to the continued conservation of these special ocean areas and help protect marine resources for future generations to enjoy.

This past school year, students across the nation conjointly helped divert 64,565 pounds of food waste from the landfill, remove 12,898 pounds of trash from their environment, reclaim 2,012 gallons of water through rainwater catchment systems, install 84 compost bins, plant 11,535 native plants, and remove 190,123 square feet of non-native invasive plants. An impressive feat for the next generation of ocean stewards!

Does your school have what it takes to be a NOAA Ocean Guardian School? Learn more about how to apply by visiting the NOAA Ocean Guardian School web page.

Alyssa Leadingham serves as the national Program Coordinator for the NOAA Ocean Guardian School program, on behalf of NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.