Mother Nature provides us with the most important things we need for living — air, water, and food. But due to the rapid “progress” mankind has made over the past century, our wants and goals of life have become very complex. With that our regard for Mother Nature has completely waned.
In recent months I have been inspired by my daughter, Dhara, a sophomore at High School South, who has been spearheading environmental protection efforts — specifically waste management and soil conservation through the means of composting (WW-P News, September 23).
As part of her Girl Scouts journey (pre-requisite for project work towards the gold award) Dhara worked with the GROWW Committee on soil conservation. As she researched more on water pollution, how rapidly our soil is eroding, and the impact on our lives, she realized a need for immediate reversal of the damage we continue to cause to our environment. Since then Dhara has further researched methods of environmental protection. She realized that composting food and yard waste is one of the simplest ways households can contribute to environment protection.
Dhara has been promoting backyard composting in West Windsor and nearby townships for over a year. She has conducted several education sessions, including at the YMCA of Princeton, Cherry Grove Farm, Windsor Montessori School, and Farmers’ Markets to increase awareness on the ease and benefits of composting. My daughter’s passion for environmental protection has led to my increased awareness and interest in this area, and specifically composting.
I travel a lot for business and to my surprise I found many large organizations — such as Bloomberg, Microsoft, Amazon, and Wal-Mart — have set up compost collection bins in their offices and cafeterias. Composting food and yard waste leads to reduced garbage going into landfills, which in turn reduces methane gas produced when garbage degenerates in a landfill. Also, as composting reduces garbage it in turn reduces the cost of trash collection.
Thus, many states and cities are promoting composting — e.g. Seattle, Colorado Springs, Texas, Delaware, California and others are promoting composting for their residents, and they have seen financial benefits.
My whole family is now involved in composting. My wife started a club, Treasuring the Trash, under the 4-H organization.
My older daughter Janvi, currently studying pharmacy at University of Sciences in Philadelphia, guides the club on scientific aspects of waste management and composting. Youth in West Windsor and Plainsboro now have the opportunity to join this club to make a positive impact in our society. They can contact dhara.compost@gmail.com to join.
Meanwhile Dhara has been working closely with the West Windsor Environmental Commission to lead an effort to bring backyard composting to the township. Our suggestion for 2012 is to start composting in West Windsor’s township offices and facilities. This will bring awareness to our residents on simple ways to protect our environment and encourage them to adopt such methods.
Dhiren Mehta
West Windsor
