Professor Sawyer's Indoor Composting
On Old Westbury's Research Day, April 22, I had a chance to sit at The Green Panther's table and explain and promote our project. I got the chance to speak with a very inspirational and sustainable person, who has her own unique way of reducing waste and going green. Caroline Sawyer, professor in the History and Philosophy Department, explain how in spite of living in an apartment, composts her waste.
Professor Sawyer has been using "Red Wiggler" worms for indoor composting for about three months so far. These worms are meant for vegetable food scraps and in a fairly short amount of time, she has already noticed how much these little worms can do. The reduction in waste that comes from these worms is surprising. According to Professor Sawyer, her composting worms reduce about three pounds of garbage a week. If the worms keep it up, after a whole year that would be about 156 pounds of garbage taken care of by the worms instead of sitting in a landfill until...who knows when!
Now, some people may be uneasy about having a compost unit in their apartments, let alone live worms, but as Professor Sawyer explained the process. It is something that can anyone can do. The containers for the composting (where the worms and food scraps are in) are no more than two thirds of a foot high and can be placed almost anywhere (comfortable temperatures of course). The whole process to conduct an indoor, composting worm bin costs between 20 and 30 dollars.
Professor Sawyer's indoor composting is a great example of a person who is living a green and sustainable life. She will be working with the Campus Garden Project at Old Westbury. Keep up the great work (and composting) Professor!
For more information on indoor composting, visit: NYC Compost Project and The Lower East Side Ecology Center.
By: Justine Amengual
Shuttle Bus Protest
For the past few years, Old Westbury students have been saying how much a change has been needed. On Wednesday, April 14, they finally put words into action and huge mass of Old Westbury students gathered in different spots on campus to protest against the unsatisfactory shuttle busses. Students wished to improve the shuttle service – as they are one of few good examples of sustainability on campus.
Students have been extremely unhappy with the the shuttle service, or lack of service, and structured a protest in an attempt to gain the attention of the administration. They wanted to express that Old Westbury is their school and that they will not stop until satisfied with what they are paying for.
In two different locations on campus, students gathered while busses were in route and stood in the streets for over two hours until our demands were met. With respectful chants, the students expressed their feelings and had their voices heard. While some students stood in front of the Campus Center, others took charge in front of the school entrance blocking any cars or busses from entering into the campus. There were also smaller protests throughout the day by the Woodbury Common dorm buildings.
After much preparation and student participation, the students of Old Westbury campus had come to an agreement and established a future meeting with the shuttle bus directors to further express their feelings and demand a change. A change can never be accomplished without the hard work and dedication that fellow students had to better our school for ourselves and future Old Westbury students.
By: Annalie Baumann
New Campus Garden About to Blossom
As a part of 2010 spring theme of Sustainability, College at Old Westbury has recently been instituting a new campus garden to provide freshly grown produce for the school's dining hall. Dean Llana has been spearheading this garden project. In a discussion with Dean Llana about the development of the garden, the Dean told me that the school garden is in the greenhouse of the science building. The garden will also take up about an acre of land and mostly grow vegetables for the school’s cafeteria. On March 29th, 2010 the Garden Group planted hundreds of seeds and just three days later they were sprouting.
Helping the garden project's cause, is Chartwells, the food service provider at the school, which will support the use of vegetables from the garden. It was a key subject that was brought up during discussion between the garden project members and Chartwells. Chef Andrew Greene seemed enthusiastic to try and implement greener foods from the school’s garden into the dining halls day-to-day food selection.
Dean Llana explained that the garden was not created to save money for the school but to genuinely raise awareness about the sustainable alternatives that the school could use. He also said that the garden is only one acre at the moment because there are not that many volunteers to help tend to the garden. It would take a few more helping hands to expand it. Let's help!
By: Trent Totten
Green Improvements on Campus
“Every spring, the School of Arts & Sciences at SUNY Old Westbury has a campus theme to encourage students to create academic projects pertaining to its campus. This year it is Campus Sustainability.” says Dr. Jim Llana, Dean of School of Arts & Sciences. Michelle Brown, Environmental Health and Safety Officer, says that faculty, staff and students at Old Westbury are currently working to ensure that the campus is recycling and making efforts to become a sustainable campus.
Among other things, projects include adjusting to the state law that maintains that all SUNY schools should use fluorescent light bulbs to conserve energy, and implementing recycling. The students may not see the recycling efforts of the administration, but they are being made. Collection bins for recycling have been placed in service areas of storage areas such as janitors’ closets. Two committees that are attempting to spread information about the schools recycling program, the Green Committee and the School of Arts and Science.
Dr. Maureen Dolan is chair of the Green Committee, which is composed of Old Westbury students, faculty and staff. Dolan has been involved in environmental issues for two decades and is through the committee exploring sustainability in simple, easy ways that will benefit everyone on campus. For example, the committee has created a program where faculty and staff can recycle printer cartridges and is working to advertise the program to involve students as well.
The School of Arts and Science runs three major projects for the year 2010:
• Audit
• Campus Mapping Project
• Campus Garden
The audit is a research project to outline and rationalize the use of energy and handling of waste on campus. The Campus Mapping Project will inform students and visitors of the environmental features of the campus. Lastly, the Campus Garden is created to focus on local food production and eventually create a one-acre vegetable garden. “Each project is at different stages and will continue throughout the year.” said Dean Llana.
The college is trying to emphasize the importance of sustainability and the students should become involved. After all, it is our campus and our Earth.
By: Jodi-Ann Rankine
A Sustainable Source BUSted?
Commuter students at Old Westbury could be faced with costly and raucous taxi rides between the Hicksville station and the college in the fall. Sadly, the college has proposed cancelling the shuttle service between the college and the Hicksville train station because of budget cuts and difficulty finding bus drivers.
Ironically, the plan coincides with the campus’ spring theme of “Sustainability.” The Green Panther feels that it should be pointed out to the transport authorities that a reduction in the shuttle service is contradictory to sustainability.
According to the transport authority, some three hundred students use the shuttle service every day. If the change is implemented, these students would turn to driving or using taxis, which would result in unsustainable effects such as increased use of gas and pollution.
The shuttle service has been a positive trend break in the common use of personal vehicles. By travelling together, students indirectly help save gas and reduce pollution, reducing the environmental impact of their transport.
The original idea of the shuttle service was to help students commute easily and explore alternative forms of transportation. And to the commuters that use it, the shuttle bus is a comfortable ride that gets them away from bottlenecked parking lots. But in the long run, the buses also help reduce the air pollution that could choke our green campus by increasing levels of greenhouse gases.
The Green Panther hopes that this suggested change is refuted and the shuttle service is still available to commuter students in the fall. The shuttle bus is one of few examples of working sustainability projects on campus – let’s fight to keep it.
By: Harkaran Oberoi
