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Students Water a New Attitude about the Environment on Campus
Monday, July 30, 2007
By: Anne Gough and Amber Garrard
Garden Sign on SIT campus
Anne Gough and Amber Garrard Start SIT's first Environmental Working Group on Brattleboro Campus
Follow the path from kitchen to fork to compost. “Can I have Falafel and pasta-salad, to go please. What’s that? I can compost my to-go container? Fantastic!” World Learning's SIT campus has done much to lessen its stress on nature and impress those concerned with the environment. Currently, through the efforts of students, staff and faculty, food and cardboard scraps go into the bin next to dish station in the International Center. These scraps are then hauled down to Martin’s Farm in Greenfield, Mass. Slowly, piles of banana peels, paper cups, cereal boxes and other kitchen matter from campus is broken down into mountains of rich humus.
In order to come full circle with campus sustainability, this spring Andy Martyn Sr., the creator of the compost system, picked up a load of finished compost and brought it back to the campus. Spread out over the revived community garden space, it was tilled into the ground, enriching the soil. Our kitchen scraps have become tall stalks of kale, bright green zucchini and juicy tomatoes!
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Bird's Eye View of the New Campus Garden | World Learning/SIT is the largest composting institution in the Southern Vermont area. This is something we should all be proud of and yet few us know about it. We are stepping up SIT's efforts to have a more green campus. As current graduate students, we have committed our practicum to increasing the education around environmental sustainability on campus. Starting the SIT Community Garden, by working with Post Oil Solutions of Brattleboro and the Vermont Community Garden Network, is just one of the projects we are currently pursuing. We are also working to winterize the campus buildings to conserve energy, monitor the consumption of oil on campus, researching renewable energy options, and creating an Environmental Working Group (EWG).
The EWG will held its first meeting on July 31, 12-1:30 in IC 101. This group aims to bring together any interested members of the SIT community, including staff, faculty and students. Without a sustainability coordinator on campus, this group will move the university to uphold its responsibility to action on climate change. Working with hands-on projects, such as the planning and installation of a solar powered irrigation pump for a large community garden, participants will learn experiential lessons applicable for students out in the field, or those learning about their home energy systems.
This is an exciting opportunity to work together as a campus community. Andy Martyn Sr. and Facilities Management have instituted a number of programs and the EWG will support and build upon their work. Knowledge in the field of environmental sustainability is a must for all of us committed to the ideals of global citizenship. We look forward to and hearing your ideas. Be a part of this fantastic opportunity!
To receive regular updates from the Environmental Working Group, contact Anne Gough at Anne.Gough@mail.sit.edu
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