Sustainability Story

By Nicole Apicelli

Sports Editor

Out of the abundance of assignments that do not make it further than a professor’s desk, one seemingly insignificant class project has potentially transformed into a campus-wide movement. At a time in which the importance of environmental issues has arguably reached an all-time high, this student-founded and student-run organization has made monumental strides in raising awareness toward sustainable life practices within the local Ewing community.

Lions Composting began last semester as a mere project pitch, inspired and assigned by Dr. Miriam Shakow in the course Climate Justice and Social Action. The seven students that joined the composting group — Jason Wilson, a sophomore marketing major, Paige Rockhill, a senior Psychology major, Ali Stibler, a sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering, Casey Lopez, a sophomore communications major, Sabrina Goott, a sophomore public health major, Summer Monasterial, a sophomore biology major and Julieta Altman, a sophomore majoring in international studies — developed an unexpected passion for the underrecognized topic.

“Truthfully, it started with a class, because a main part of the class was creating a campaign — and that had to do with climate change and social action and things like that,” said Lopez, the event planner/publicist for Lions Composting.

When the group decided to act upon their inclinations by advocating to make composting an initiative at the College, the students received copious support from Dr. Shakow, the stakeholders they were able to communicate with and stakeholder and co-chair of the College’s Environmental Sustainability Council, Paul Romano. Support from members of the fellow campus community further encouraged the group to keep pushing forward — especially during a period in which the College’s dining service, Sodexo, faced more scrutiny from the campus community than usual.

“They made us think that it was actually possible to implement composting, and that’s when we realized oh, this can be more than just a campaign,” said Altman, one of Lions Composting’s Co-presidents.

As the seven continued their efforts to become officially recognized by the College, the group held a kickoff event in which they attempted to further educate community members on the reality of composting — ensuring that awareness would be spread regardless of their success. On Wednesday, Feb. 9, the club greeted their Instagram followers with a green thumbs up to announce their recognition and move towards brainstorming their next major goal.

Just as everything began looking up, unfortunate staff-shortages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic presented more challenges in advancing the impact of the organization. Altman explained that the initial objective was rooted in joining the ESC and accessing the needed funds to place staff-operated composting bins near the three largest dining sites on campus — The Atrium at Eickhoff, the Brower Student Center and T-Dubs Dining.

“Paul Romano told me that it would not be very sustainable to have students run it, because students go away and have midterms and finals. So then I went and I spoke to Sodexo about it and asked if they would be on board, and they said with staff shortages, it wouldn't really be possible at the time,” Altman said.

The College also announced on Monday, Feb. 21, that Travers and Wolfe, the location of T-Dubs, is planned to be demolished, leaving Lopez and Altman to ponder the next most trafficked dining area on campus in which a composting bin should reasonably be placed. Rather than letting the undesirable news discourage them in their journey to advocate for sustainable dining practices, the group has continued to communicate and implement new methods in educating the campus community.

In the meantime, Keith Murray, a Sodexo employee, provided several realistic suggestions that would allow the club to begin making a change without the use of composting bins — such as by donating food waste to local farmers. While previous attempts to introduce composting to the College have proved unsuccessful, the organization remains hopeful that they will ultimately bring sustainability awareness to the campus and community.

Lopez and Altman are satisfied with their progress thus far, as they have already seen an impact in their educational endeavors through documentary screenings and various other events. When asked about their future expectations for the organization,

“If I’m being completely realistic, I know that getting the composting bins, that's a good goal, and if that's where we end up stopping that's fine. But if we get a loyal following and they’re able to carry out or have us pass down everything, then I feel like that would be the next step and that would be really cool and ideal,” Lopez said.

Altman explained that through each step of the process, educating the community on the proper uses and practices of sustainable technology will play a vital role. If they are eventually able to purchase a biodigester, which speeds up the natural composting process, the organization envisions the machine as an interactive element of the campus which the students can decorate.

For anyone looking to get involved, Lions composting hosts bi-weekly on Wednesdays from 4 - 5 p.m. in room 321 of the Social Sciences Building.

“We want composting to be a habit on campus, like just another way of disposing of food. But in order to do that, the student body has to be on board and the school has to make it accessible. Once let’s say freshmen start doing it, and they do it their four years of college, then when they move on from college it's already a habit of them to be composting and disposing of food waste properly — so that's ultimately the goal,” Altman said.