Free Composting Class and Bins Offered at College

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: May 19, 2008

CONTACT: Lisa Saunders

(845) 574-4244

Free Composting Class and Bins at SUNY Rockland Community College

Suffern, NY - In an effort to promote resource management education, SUNY Rockland Community College is inviting county residents to a free composting class. Upon completion of the class, free composting bins will be distributed to Rockland residents showing proof of residency.

 "When life deals you lemons, throw them in the compost pile!" said Lorinda Hill, the Assistant to Director of Plant Facilities at RCC, who made the arrangement with Cornell Cooperative Extension to present the composting class.  "The goal of any resource management program is to ultimately reduce the amount of waste made in the first place."

Class attendees will learn the step-by-step process in making their own "gardener’s gold" by composting yard wastes and kitchen scraps.

When President Dr. Cliff L. Wood signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) on April 22, he committed the College to sharply reducing and eventually eliminating all of its global warming emissions, and to accelerate the educational efforts to equip society to re-stabilize the earth’s climate.  The College already has underway several efforts that promote an eco-friendly, or ‘Green’ environment:

• RCC’s newly built Technology Center is a "Green Building" (lights operate on sunlight and motion sensors, for example)
• Encouraging public transportation (free shuttle service between campuses and offers students and employees discounted bus passes)
• Purchasing energy from renewable sources (RCC gets 10% of power from wind)
• ROSE (reusable office supply exchange - saving the College $11,000 in office supplies from June ‘05 through December ‘07)
• As a result of give-a-ways and eco-educational campus-wide e-mails, more students and College employees are using canvas tote bags and schoolbags instead of plastic bags, and  using coffee and travel mugs instead of Styrofoam and paper cups.
• Every employee desk has a paper recycling bin. College also recycles bottles, cans, metals, plastic, rechargeable batteries, florescent lamps, laser and inkjet cartridges, etc.
• From 2000-2007, the College diverted 504 tons from landfills to recycling and has saved more than $36,000 in disposal fees. From 2000-2007, the College received almost $11,000 in cash rebates for its recyclables from the Rockland County Solid Waste Management Authority.

Event Facts

Date/Time: Tuesday, June 3, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Type: Composting Class

Location: Student Union, Rm 3214, Rockland Community College, 145 College Rd., Suffern

Admission: Free and open to Rockland County Residents

More Info: Lorinda Hill at 845-574-4524, lhill@sunyrockland.edu, or Jeff Geller, Cornell Cooperative Extension, 845-429-7085 x 125, jag237@cornell.edu

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Rockland Community College, a unit of the State University of New York, is located 25 miles northwest of NYC. The majority of its students transfer to four-year colleges, and many find immediate employment upon earning their associate's degree or certificate. The College also offers others, from preschoolers to senior citizens, the opportunity to simply learn something new. Quality education...at a price you can afford.