LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The cafeteria at Atherton High looks a little different now. The school joined forces with the company, West Rock, to implement a pilot compost program aimed at reducing lunchtime waste.

When students finish their lunch, they are asked to sort their waste into either a recycling bin, compost bin or trash can. There are signs up across the cafeteria to remind everyone which items belong in each bin.

Despite the signs, things sometimes fall into the wrong spot. That's where the school's positive action coordinator, Nicki Marzian, steps in. With the help of some of her colleagues, she looks through the bins to make sure everything is in the right place.

"We don't want the compost to be messed up because that ruins the whole operation and they won't be able to compost it," Marzian said.

While this new process takes some getting used to, students like Reagan Petto are on board.

"When we did start implementing it, I was really excited. I think it is really important," Petto said.

Since the launch of the pilot program in mid-December, Atherton High has composted 3.3 tons of food scraps and increased the lunch product recycling.

"We've been able to reduce our trash a lot too. We were having like 50 bags of trash a day, but are now down to single-digit bags of trash," Marzian said.

The teachers recently went to West Rock to see the composting process firsthand. Although Marzian has been recycling for years, she said she still learned a lot from the trip.

"The most blaring statistic for me was that 80 to 90 percent of items in the landfill could have been recycled," Marzian said.

This pilot program is still in its infancy, but it is already seeing results. If the program goes well, Marzian said Jefferson County Public Schools could consider expanding this concept to other schools in the district.