Members of Whitman’s Green Leaders program are currently investigating ways to increase environmentally conscious practices in cooperation with Bon Appétit in Whitman’s dining halls and cafes. In recent weeks, Green Chief Officer Jacob Frei and other members of Whitman’s Green Leaders met with Bon Appétit General Manager Roger Edens for an environmentally focused tour of dining facilities on campus.

Whitman's composting club is experimenting with new strategies after its worm composting program proved unsustainable.

In the spring of 2012, right before summer break, the Industrial Compost Group faced an unexpected hurdle: Of the 45,000 worms purchased from local worm breeder Barbara Newby for vermicomposting, only 5,000 remained alive. The setback forced the group to reformulate their plan in order to replenish the worm population and ensure its continued expansion. Now, the group is looking to the future, with new opportunities arising to grow composting on campus and educate the community about its importance.

It's all part of a new composting program put into place this year by a team of students from Campus Climate Challenge, a Whitman club focused on environmental issues. The program looks to reduce the amount of garbage produced by the dining halls by providing an alternate place for the food waste to go.

With so much food often placed on our plates, it is easy to be unaware of where it all eventually ends up. According to an article in the New Scientist on July 31, sixteen percent of the energy consumed...

When sophomores Hannah Siano and Zoey Rogers came to campus last year, they noticed that something was missing in their residence hall: a composting program. Though their composting idea still has some challenges to overcome, Siano and Rogers have introduced composting to the class of 2014.