Green Team Students Teach Community
By Ms. Jade, Audra, Taylor, Jane, Katherine and Esmeralda
Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary just had their Fall Garden Workday on November 9th. Not only did the community come out and help beautify the Pollinator Peace Garden on a crisp and bright fall morning, but something new unfolded as well.
This garden workday was unique in that students from our r Student Leadership’s Green Team led a workshop on composting! As part of being an Ocean Guardian School, SCG is committed to sharing information about composting with the community and how composting helps our watersheds.
Athena, Audra, Taylor, Jane, Esmeralda, Vernon, Katherine and Connor designed and bravely taught the community about this important topic. They explained what composting is: a way to break things down into dirt more quickly than nature does itself. They told us that it is good for the environment because composting diverts the harmful greenhouse gas methane away from the landfills. (When organic matter goes to the landfill it decomposes anaerobically– without oxygen and creates methane!) Less methane means less ocean warming; so composting is an important way to keep our Monterey Bay watershed healthy!
Students also told us how to compost specifically at home; we need greens, browns, air and water. Greens are things that have water still and are not crunchy and dry. For example apple cores, fresh leaves, stems, leftover fruit and vegetables and rotting food. These all have nitrogen. Browns are dry and crunchy and older; these all have carbon. You need layering of both and you need double the browns to greens. Browns have less carbon than greens have nitrogen. Your pile should have good air exposure and should be “as wet as a wrung out sponge.”
Presenters finally had attendees make their own mini “Compost Cakes” on clean small cardboard cafeteria lunch trays salvaged from the recycling bin. At the end, the community had questions about how long it takes to make finished compost– and Connor answered that it depends on many things- like temperature, how often it’s turned, etc. Even further Katherine mentioned “You can compost at home and you can also do it with worms!” She shared about how vermicomposting is different from regular composting: when you are vermicomposting. “It is the same as regular composting except you cannot add certain things, like citrus or anything spicy because it will hurt red wriggler worm skin.”
In the end, the workshop was a true success and smiles abound. “Making the Compost Cakes went really well” beamed Taylor “because they didn’t need any help, they just listened!” What a great audience!
Attendees attentively make their own “Compost Cakes.”
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