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Maxim Elramisy | The Corsair Recycling Coordinator Gwen Larned uses composted soil to fertilize seedlings in the Organic Learning Garden at on November 5, 2021.
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Gwen Larned uses a woodchiper to grind foodwaste from the cafeteria and Bodega on November 5, 2021.
New Look Campus Reopens After COVID Year
Maxim Elramsisy | Photo Editor
Global leaders held talks this month at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland highlighting sustainability and environmental leadership around the world. In the United States (U.S.), the federal government is negotiating how to handle the growing threat of climate change, while balancing the short and long-term economic impact of shifting infrastructure to support more sustainability. The 2021 infrastructure bill, titled the Build Back Better Act, recently passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. It prioritizes using clean energy to reduce greenhouse gases. Some politicians like West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin are walking the line between environmental-
Maxim Elramisy | The Corsair Maxim Elramisy | The Corsair Food waste, plant trimmings and horse manure mix to create a compostable smoothie for worms to eat.
Maxim Elramisy | The Corsair Worms that convert organic waste fertilizer in campus compost bin on Thursday, October 21, 2021.
Maxim Elramisy | The Corsair A Santa Monica College social work student carries a watermelon from the Organic Learning Garden to the Bodega food pantry.
New Look Campus Reopens After COVID Year
ism and preservation of their state’s energy industry. “We must strike a balance that acknowledges climate change exists & that fossil fuels are a vital part of our energy mix” he tweeted on June 25, 2014. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests reducing landfill gas (LFG) waste, which would otherwise create methane (a potent greenhouse gas) emissions by using LFG as a source of renewable energy. LFG , which is a byproduct of organic material decomposition occurring in landfills, accounts for 17% of U.S. methane emissions, equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions from more than 21 million passenger vehicles according to the EPA. Los Angeles County has 10 landfills, about one per million residents, according to the county website. The landfills are tasked with managing around 3 million tons of waste produced by businesses, consumers and residents. A 2014 public-private partnership called RecycLA was established to facilitate agreements and mandates with the goal of creating more “efficient collection and sustainable management of solid waste resources and recyclables,” according to the L.A. Department of Sanitation website. The first stated goal of the partnership is to reduce landfill disposal by 1 million tons by 2025. Gwen Larned, the Santa Monica College (SMC) Recycling Coordinator, is tasked with improving the sustainability of waste management on the SMC campus. Larned oversees the composting system which uses over 400,000 worms to convert 500 lbs of food scraps into nutrient rich fertilizer each week. The fertilizer is used for landscaping around campus in places like the Organic Learning Garden. The fruits, vegetables, and spices grown in the garden are given to SMC students at the Bodega, SMC’s first centralized food pantry.This closed loop system takes waste from campus and uses it to produce a sustainable source for one of the nation’s preeminent food security programs. SMC’s practices of sustainability and waste reduction apply the EPA’s national guidelines on a community level.
Neil O'Loughlin | The Corsair (L-R) Lilina, an SMC student points out items that she wants while Bodega volunteer Chyna Tucker assists to collect and bag the food on October 27, 2021.
Maxim Elramisy | The Corsair A Santa Monica College social work student carries a watermelon from the Organic Learning Garden to the Bodega food pantry.
