Composting Carnivale

On a recent trip to Davis, CA, a bike-friendly haven just west of Sacramento, I met some very interesting co-eds. A friend, who is doing her post-doc in neuroscience at UC Davis, offered to show me around the campus (on a bike of course).

If there's a way to look cool on a bike, I have yet to find it.

What I found were inspiring microcosms; small, student-run organizations that have formed communities, which work together to effect real change in the world. Rather than just complain about waste and inefficiency, they are changing their lifestyles. I'm certainly down with that.

The first little stop on our bike trek was what I will call composting central; it was located at the back of a few of the houses where members of The Co-op live. In their own words, The Co-ops are "an ecologically-conscious culturally diverse student community dedicated to alternative living. We power our homes with solar energy, we grow some food organically, and love to compost and recycle."

No more guilt over scrapping your broccoli

What's more, some of these students run Project Compost, which is a student-run and funded initiative that both educates the university population about compost through free composting workshops, and picks up over 1000 pounds of food refuse daily from all over campus.

Sign Reads: "Crank Lever to Mix Content"
Leigh: A+ (Nice Form!) Steve: F (At least hold the sign!)

True to their mission, the composting area was both educational and functional. It had several different types of bins along with explanations about how each system worked. Some required sifting, rotating racks, or spinning, and we were happy to get down and dirty with them all.

"Behold, the composting power of worms!"


"Holy Hell, that is a stinky business!"

Where does all of this nutrient-rich (and alarmingly bug-infested) compost go? Right next door - to The Co-ops bountiful organic gardens.

So if these college students can pull this off, why can't those of us with a college diploma do the same thing? And most importantly, why are so many of us still dumping biodegradable matter into the landfill where it creates methane emissions (yes, that's one of the types of gases that causes global warming).

Lastly, with the cost of food ever on the rise, why not start growing a little bit of your own? For more info on the UC Davis composting program, visit the website. If you are a college student, look around at how much food waste is being generated each day - I guarantee you will be horrified - and then consider starting one of these projects at your school. I'm sure the UC Davis crew would be happy to offer some pointers. They do attend an agricultural school after all, and these students obviously have been staying awake in class.

Back to School in December

As a former teacher, married to a current one, who currently resides on a school campus, I have seen first-hand the incredible power of student initiated action. Many of these students, most of whom are not even old enough to vote, have done something tangible about poverty, war, and injustice. On December 5th, students all over the country will once again have a chance to take action to help those displaced and in danger due to the atrocities in Darfur.

DarfurFast, sponsored by STAND (Student Anti-Genocide Coaltion), asks students to organize a day of fasting on December 5th. Participants are asked to give up one comfort item, such as a cup of coffee, and donate the money they would have spent to help feed and protect displaced Darfuri women and children. Just $3 can protect one person for a year. Students all over the country are already registering their schools and encouraging fellow students, family members, and those in their community to participate.

STAND, in partnership with the Genocide Intervention Network, provides educational materials to help spread the word about the situation in Darfur, as well as a link to register your school for the fast.

For more information about the situation in Darfur, I recommend that you read Not on Our Watch, by Don Cheadle and John Prendergast, any of Nick Kristof's many editorials about the situation in The New York Times, or visit ENOUGH, "the project to abolish genocide and mass atrocities." After doing your homework, challenge your representatives in Congress to do the same. You can visit Genocide Intervention's Darfur Scores to see whether or not your Representatives and Senators are making the grade. Some of them really need to raise their scores on this one.

For extra credit, (listen up Scrabble lovers and high SAT score seekers), visit freerice.com. It is the sister site of Poverty.com. Free Rice's two goals are, "To provide English vocabulary to everyone for free, and to help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free." The free rice is supplied by the advertising sponsors, and the more words you know the more rice they donate! Students working to end mass atrocities and hunger is something we should all be able to stand behind. Take a few moments to help end world hunger, and join DarfurFast on December 5th.