Field Station Hosts Environmental Workshop for Wal-Mart Employees

The Westminster College Field Station hosted 46 Wal-Mart employees for a May 6 workshop focused on the environment.

The retreat was part of the employees' commitment to Personal Sustainability Projects (PSP). PSP aims to provide Wal-Mart employees with assistance on issues ranging from personal health to the global environment.

The day-long event was coordinated by Dr. Clarence Harms, Westminster professor of biology emeritus and director of the Field Station; Jeremy Eaton of the Erie Wal-Mart; and Christina Mitchell from the Meadville Wal-Mart.

Volunteers from the Erie office of Earth Force, a national organization whose main focus is watershed conservation and improvement, organized a program that called attention to problems of watershed pollution and the environmental realities of carbon monoxide emissions.

Harms led a second section through the four steps of composting: generating compostables; laying out rows of the organics; stirring the rows weekly; and harvesting the compost after four months by screening.

"We dealt with theory and practice, defined the vocabulary, and considered the alternatives," Harms said. "When I opened the bags of food waste that might otherwise have entered landfills, there were some guarded looks, and some even drew back because of the appearance and mild odor."

Harms donned gloves and apron to demonstrate the hand-sorting to separate plastic and other non-compostables from the organic matter. "I did not have volunteers to help sort the food waste," Harms said.

At the end of the day, participants were given a reuseable Wal-Mart bag filled with earth-friendly commodities.

"Many of the participants expressed surprise and interest in the variety of ecological projects going on at the Field Station," Harms said. "One man is checking with his local college to see what they are doing with garbage, and others promised to return for a visit."

Contact Harms at (724) 946-8520 or e-mail harmsc@westminster.edu for additional information.