Being Sustainable

Hola Canada!

Virginia in action with her compost!

Yesterday we had a constructive workshop on compost and recycling with Virginia, "The Recycling Lady"! She came to Ayala campus with Margarita (The co-coordinator with Gisela Frias (my supervisor) and 5 students of Normal Superior campus to attend the workshop. Virginia explained to us how to maintain successful compost. But before you start composting you need to understand the importance of recycling. There are 4 different categories of recycling besides composting; plastic, paper, glass and metal. With these recycling materials many new things are fabricated. For example, desks, tables, chairs, shirts and bags are created.

The school gardener
enthusiastic about
the workshop!

Recycling bins:
5 donated to the school!

         Once you are able to divide all these different substances you are ready to create your own compost. Now, for those of you who do not know what compost is, it is decomposable waste. For instance, food is compostable: fruits, vegetables, meat, bones, bread, etc. Dead animals are also compostable. Plants, herbs and wood are compostable as long as everything you put in the compost is not oversized all of these should decompose quickly.  To start you own compost you must create a small to medium size bin and place old grass or leaves (greens) at the bottom. After the first layer is complete you can add your” kitchen waste” (food) on top, then add another layer of greens and so on and so forth. To finalize the first batch of compost you must add soil to the top of the compost to cover it up and add water to ensure it stays moist. Turn the compost and water it regularly when needed. After 6 weeks the compost should be ready to be used in the garden.

Community bonding together.

                

               This workshop was very informative. Many people along with the 30 students from the project attended the workshop. They were interested and motivated by the idea of recycling and the continuation of their compost project. The students have come to the realization that we still need to work on maintaining the compost. Virginia helped the students by placing their compost properly and adding some of her fresh soil on top of the compost. The main key to successful compost it to keep it warm, secured from animals and to ensure it is always in a moist condition.

Cactus garden in progress

              Today Kendall and I cleaned up the garbage around the school. Since we are trying to calculate the total carbon footprint of Ayala campus we need to collect the garbage for a week. The students have been in charge of collecting the garbage. However they have not stored it in a safe location, therefore, Kendall and I have created a box for them to store all the wastes. Meanwhile, the students were working on their cactus and medicinal gardens during a good part of the morning.

At 11am Yari and I worked on a proposal until 2pm. This proposal is for a special activity/project involving the students. I do not want to spill the surprise for the students until the proposal has been approved! So I will let you know how the proposal goes once I hear from Margarita (as she is the one to approve of it). To finish off the day, the self-watering container group decided to create more containers to be ready to plant once we get the plants. These projects are advancing faster then I could have imagined. The students just never want to stop working! It motivates me to do more for them everyday.

Hasta jueven,

Gab :]