Ramapo College’s President’s Committee on Campus Sustainability (PCCS) has received a grant to implement a composting initiative on campus for Village residents.
The new initiative has been granted funding from the College Foundation to assist in diverting organic waste from landfills and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The program has been put into effect in the Village where residents have the opportunity to opt-in by using or requesting the composting bin provided in their dorm. From there students will have to bring their materials to the Sharp Sustainability Education Center composting area that will be maintained by volunteers.
PCCS will also be hosting workshops throughout the fall and spring semesters to help educate students on how to properly compost on Ramapo campus, PCCS co-chair Ashwani Vasishth told The Ramapo News in an interview.
“Students can come learn what composting is, what the different ways of composting is, and if at home, they want to start backyard composting, how to go about doing that,” said Vasishth.
The program is also collaborating with Source Compost, a New Jersey based composting service.
The PCCS website defines sustainability as a means to meet the present needs of our community without compromising the quality of the environment for future generations.
“The Committee [helps the] Ramapo College [community] … by exploring and developing sustainable options, coordinating and facilitating sustainability initiatives across the campus, and communicating about sustainability to the College,” details the PCCS mission statement on their website.
PCCS helps advise the President of the college on sustainability related decisions and implementing sustainability on campus.
“We take sustainability to be an attitude, a world view, a holistic way of thinking about ourselves in the context of the ecosphere,” says the PCCS website. “Sustainability is … a way of making decisions that gives due consideration to profit, people and planet.”
jhammer@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of ramapo.edu
