Posted by Kat Kullman
On April 5, SGA Senate met with the campus Composting Committee to discuss creating a composting manager position on campus. Though no decision was reached, the Senate will continue to work with the committee to improve composting on campus.
Composting manager would be a paid position, and would include a large amount of physical labor.
"It's a lot of physical work; composting requires a lot of maintenance," said Senator Dan DeMartini '11, who is also a member of the Composting Committee.
"Most other schools like Skidmore already have a program and a position like this. Composting training needs to be part of the job, but the person who filled the position would have to be really dedicated," said Talia Arnow '13, another Composting Committee member.
The Composting Committee was given $800 at the start of the year to begin a composting program in Northwoods apartments.
The group has distributed composting buckets to all of the Northwoods residents interested in participating, and has established intermediate bins across the apartment complex. The composting center is located in Scribner, and is approximately 4 by 11 feet. This space handles almost all of the compost generated by the apartments.
"What we want to do next is expand into Scribner. To do that we really want to create some structure around the program by creating compost managers to be in charge of Scribner and Northwoods and be a liaison with EAC," Arnow said.
Senate suggested the committee improve the program by sending weekly e-mails with updates of the amount composted in Northwoods, as well as holding educational seminars on what to compost and how composting helps.
"Eventually this composting could go back to the community garden, which would be a way to really give back. We also want the administration to pick up on all of this, and to have all the new buildings built with composting already integrated," DeMartini said.
In other news:
Senate unanimously approved a supplemental of $450 to Pulse, a musical group on campus that uses recycled items as instruments, to fund a weekend trip to New York City to play in public areas such as Central Park.
"We've never done it before, but I want to get us out there, and this could be fun and get us a lot of exposure," said Andy Letwin '11, president of Pulse.
The group will videotape its performance for students to view the trip after they return.