It was 20 degrees outside, but the compost piles were steaming at Brick Ends Farm, in Hamilton, Mass. Harvard students toured the farm on March 26 to learn about post-consumer composting and discover what happens to apple cores and soup containers after they leave Harvard’s cafeterias.
The tour was part of the gearing-up for Earth Day on April 22. All month long, Harvard’s faculty, students and staff will be raising awareness of sustainability. At HMS, the focus is on “post-consumer” composting in the Courtyard and Atrium cafes. On April 18, HMS Campus Operations, Restaurant Associates and Harvard’s Office for Sustainability will provide information and a video in the cafes, where volunteer “composting ambassadors” will demonstrate how to compost correctly, creating a waste stream of food scraps, napkins and compostable take-out containers.
“To be successful, everyone must make a conscious behavior change,” said Longwood Sustainability Manager Claire Berezowitz. At HMS, cafeterias compost waste from food production, but a challenge, Berezowitz said, is to recognize and dispose of non-compostables, such as coffee cups from outside vendors. For inspiration, she points to the Harvard School of Public Health, which kept 103.3 tons of material out of landfills last year, saving $2,289 in trash-hauling fees.
Composting has benefits beyond the environmental and financial. At Brick Ends Farm, the product is bagged by Bass River, an organization for disabled adults. Bag labels were designed by patients from Children’s Hospital Boston through Kidz B Kidz, a non-profit children’s art group.
Proceeds go to Children’s to fight childhood cancers, said Kidz B Kidz co-founder Jan Weinshanker. The 20-pound bags were set to go on sale in April at local grocery and garden stores.
For a full list of Harvard-wide Earth Day events, visit www.green.harvard.edu.
