Building Bridges and Bins

By Nancy Schulz, Sustainable Newton Waste Reduction & Diversion Committee Chair

On Friday afternoon, March 6, 2026, the gray sky over the Newton County FFA Camp hinted of impending showers, yet the spirits of the 15 teenagers assembled inside were not dampened. On the contrary, these students from the Youth for Understanding USA exchange program were eager to begin work. After all, they'd come all the way from Hamburg, Germany to gain more knowledge of the USA and more specifically, Georgia.

The project itself was simple. Sustainable Newton received a $10,000 grant from Amazon Web Services — a little corporate seed money planted right here in Newton County. The plan was to purchase, assemble, and distribute compost bins that would eventually land in backyards, schools, and civic groups across the county.

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A Growing Solution

Germans are quite familiar with composting. They know very well that banana peels, coffee grounds, and apple cores deserve a second act. Sustainable Newton volunteers, Florian Pohl, Chris Martin, and Nancy Schulz provided guidance, answered questions, handed out tools, and reminded students to follow the instructions provided in the kits. Once assembled these bins would give nourishment to the soil and to the gardens that nourish the people who tend them.

Working in groups of three, the students quickly unpacked their kits.  Screws tightened. Occasionally installed backwards. There were moments of German, moments of English, and a universal language known as “Wait, hold that while I fix this.”

If At First You Don't Succeed

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It turns out teenagers from Hamburg and volunteers from Newton County share an important skill set: figuring things out as they go.

After a little more than an hour, the students had assembled five bins.

There was laughter when the last screw went in. A few photos. Someday soon those bins will sit behind a school, or next to a garden, or behind someone’s house here in Newton County. People will toss in lettuce leaves, eggshells, and yesterday’s coffee grounds.

And months later it will all turn into dark, living soil.

Yes, we assembled bins. Most importantly, we built bridges of understanding and connection.

Thinking Globally, Acting Locally

On Sunday, as I walked down one of the aisles at our local Kroger, I heard “Look there’s Nancy”. Standing in the middle of the vinegar aisle were 5 of the German teenagers. I was there to purchase products to make “homemade” weed deterrent. We chatted about grocery stores, the gloomy weather, and how to make sustainable products from scratch. They were gleeful about their time in Newton County. Simple exchanges can change lives. I’m proud to have been a part of this opportunity to think globally and act locally.

Going... Going... Almost Gone!

We've purchased all the tumblers our Amazon grant would cover -- and we've already distributed 86 of them into the community!  But we saved the ones our guests from Hamburg assembled to give away via a drawing at our Earth Day Celebration at the Cheerios Challenge on April 18.  Stop by our tent on Legion Field after the races to enter to win one.