Zuri Primos
On April 22, Dillard University unveiled the newly Renovated Greenhouse with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“This is just the beginning,” said Dr. Monique Guillory, Dillard University’s President. She said she hopes that it plants seeds of sustainability in the minds of students and encourages environmental justice through hands-on learning.
The greenhouse will be used to grow fruit, vegetables, and herbs for the students and also for the Gentilly neighborhood.
“I feel like it spreads more awareness about going green, and what we can do in Louisiana to grow different produce,” said Skylar Weathersby, a sophomore chemistry major. “82% of the perishes in Louisiana are in a food desert. So, that means that we have to travel a mile or more to get fresh produce or food,” she continued.
In addition to the ceremony, Dillard University Dining hosted a farmer’s market for students to purchase fresh produce. A celebration event was also held in Kearny Hall that provided Earth Day and environmental awareness education, gardening and recycling tips from experts, and arts and craft activities that included planting pot decorating.
“I feel like students aren’t as aware as they need to be of their environmental impact, however, events like this inform students,” said Weathersby.
Compost Now: New Orleans Waste, an organization centered on addressing food waste by supporting and providing resources to free residential food waste collection programs in the New Orleans area, was one of the environmental organizations represented at the Earth Day celebration.
“One of our larger focus now is educating folks about what it actually takes to compost and then helping them set up at home,” said Dr. Megan Linderman, assistant at Compost Now.
Their mission is to inform people how low-cost and easy access the process can be. They’re spreading their mission by teaching in schools, summer camps, and college campuses just like Dillard. Dr. Linderman emphasized how a lot of people think they can’t make a change on an individual level, but she said that anytime food waste is diverted from going to landfills, it makes a huge difference
“Getting the word out is really building that culture and almost aiming for a default to compost, a default to recycling, really a default to creating a more sustainable future,” said Dr. Linderman.