It’s not often in life that a problem presents such a harmonious, simple and effective solution – one that requires only a little bit of effort for a lot of gains.

Composting is one of those examples, and while we’re not idealistic enough to propose that every Rhode Islander will one day join the composting club, we think it is highly realistic for every one of Rhode Island’s public schools to do so.

It would be a mistake not to move toward that goal methodically and purposefully in the coming years.

Rhode Island has a well-documented trash problem. We have one central landfill that will be full in the next couple of decades. Once that happens, the cost to truck our waste to somewhere else that still has space to bury our garbage will likely be a rude wake-up call for many residents who pay no attention to such matters. Just like having functioning plumbing, few people realize the vast amount of infrastructure and human ingenuity needed to keep our state from overflowing in refuse.

While composting would not solve the unavoidable trash avalanche headed our way, widespread implementation of its practices, even just in our public schools, would have a significant effect and could buy us some time. Some early data from local schools that are already participating in composting programs illustrate the possibility that most of what’s being sent to our landfill is compostable food waste.

Saving that food waste from going into our trash, ultimately destined for the landfill, would solve multiple problems at once. It would reduce the persistence of rodents looking for quick meals from full dumpsters. It would cut the volume of greenhouse gases coming from the landfill. It would lower the cost of trash removal by reducing the amount of trash and, therefore, the frequency of having to haul it away. These would all be double victories for everyone.

Having mandatory composting programs at every public school in Rhode Island would also open a door to expanded educational programming on topics crucially important to the future of Rhode Island and the wider world.

Students could learn about what makes something compostable, recyclable or reusable. They could learn about what a landfill is, why they are important, how they work and what will happen when we run out of space in them. Schools could take soil – enriched from the very food waste they helped keep out of the landfill – and incorporate it into lessons about growing food and how plants thrive.

The other benefit of implementing a widespread composting program is that it could be launched at a relatively low cost and would promise long-term financial benefits for the schools that make the investment.

State leadership and corporate benefactors should be eager to figure out how they could help bankroll and support composting programs in their local communities. It would provide an easy public-relations victory, and would be a triumph for all of Rhode Island, and planet Earth.