Field Station Hits the Road Again
Posted on Monday, June 22, 2009
The address of the Field Station is 937 Fayette-New Wilmington Road and most activities do take place at this 50+ acre plot. But from time to time we take a road trip in behalf of the interests and activities that concern us. That happened on Friday, June 19, when the composting project of the Field Station hit the road and, at a distance of 40 miles, was the focus of a display in center aisle of the Chippewa Wal-Mart store! This event was part of a larger "expo" put on by more than 20 Wal-Marts of the Pittsburgh District. Called "The First Annual Personal Sustainability Projects Fair," the extravaganza was devoted to sustainability, a worthwhile topic that has become a commitment for the nation's largest retailer.
Wal-Mart's "Personal Sustainability Projects" (PSPs) are employee-driven efforts through which Wal-Mart and Sam's Club associates and managers develop individual goals to improve their health and wellness and the health of the environment. Wal-Mart employees are encouraged to educate their colleagues, customers, families and communities on personal sustainability and the positive impact this can have on their daily lives.
Say what you will about the "Wal-Mart culture," sustainability has become part of it. And that is good. PSPs are being created in nearly every Wal-Mart store by and for employees to help make choices that can have a real impact on the environment. The movement is spreading to international Wal-Marts.
Here is how Westminster's Field Station fits into that milieu of "town and gown." We are an educational facility and part of our Mission Statement is community service and education beyond the classroom. We have been trading off sustainability projects with the local Wal-Mart for over three years: they give us dead potted plants from their lawn and garden department and coffee grounds from the staff lounge and we compost them; their associates and managers make regular visits to the Field Station for project days and we appreciate their efforts.
We recently helped a local Wal-Mart PSP team set up a display detailing the "nuts and bolts" of composting. The poster was titled "Composting 101" and featured a step-by-step, pictured sequence of how individuals can make their own backyard composting operations successful. Free, bagged samples of Westminster Compost were on the table for the taking. A PowerPoint presentation illustrated how large-scale composting has been done in the past at the Field Station. (More than 200 tons of compostables were handled at the Field Station each year between July 2005 and June 2009! That's 800 tons and enough to make us "large-scale.")
Conversations with Wal-Mart customers and associates went something like this: "Do you compost at home?" If the answer was "yes," "congratulations!" followed and details were exchanged. One person who admitted that she composted added, "But it doesn't look anything like this" (pointing to the open basket of friable Westminster Compost). She was basically putting yard waste and food scraps out to rot and not finding the result satisfying. She was then advised that good composting requires a proper mix of "browns" and "greens," proper watering and (above all) frequent stirring. If the passer-by did not compost at home but showed interest, more details were available, including a small card printed with web sites that could serve as a handy how-to recipe for proper composting.
Other displays at this regional "expo" included organic foods, green cleaning supplies, recycling techniques and strategies to monitor health. Five hours and hundreds of conversations later the displays were dismantled and plans formed for the next "expo" that just might require another, more distant, road trip!
Clarence Harms, Director Field Station
harmsc@westminster.edu
724-946-8520
More Stories
