Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

My name is Luc Lowry, and I am a senior at Falls Lake Academy in Creedmoor, North Carolina. I've always been interested in science, but during my junior year of high school, I took AP Earth and Environmental science with my favorite teacher, Mr. Allen. It was an exciting class that impacted my view of people and our planet. APES inspired me to pursue a career in environmental science. I plan to major in biology to help the planet in any way I can. To get a head start on benefitting my environment, I started a school-wide composting program at my school. I have put composting bins in the classrooms that get the most traction during lunch, and after lunch, I go and collect the waste and put it in a pile near our school garden. Starting in October, I've also made several announcements to bring in rotten or discarded Halloween pumpkins; it has been successful, and I have collected over 15 pumpkins. I also work at a bagel shop, and at the end of the day, they usually throw away several pounds of bagels, which I collect and take to school. I have compiled a sizeable amount of decomposing waste, which will hopefully be ready in the next few months. I plan to keep this program going for the rest of the year and, at best, be picked up by another student next year. Composting is an essential act to care for our soil and atmosphere. Humans send more than 100 million tons of waste to landfills annually; almost a third is compostable. Cutting down on waste sent to landfills can solve problems like decreasing the amount of methane and carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere and reducing the amount of contaminated water getting into groundwater or getting to bodies of water through runoff. Additionally, the less waste we send to landfills, the less land we have to use for dumps. Other than waste amounts, compost has a very impactful agricultural benefit. Compost is a natural fertilizer that retains water, holds soil together, and contains beneficial bacteria that assist in plant growth and soil health. Once my compost is ready, my school will use it as a fertilizer for the garden. I have helped my community by educating the students at Falls Lake Academy on the importance of composting and giving them a place to dispose of organic waste. Education is essential in helping our environment since nothing will change unless people care. Through this program, I have gotten people in my community to care about the environment. The botany and nutrition classes will be the ones that use the compost in the garden as well. My project has been successful, but it could be better. It has been a learning experience for future projects about things I should and shouldn't do. I should've advertised the composting better, tried to be more convincing, made more announcements, and started earlier. In conclusion, this has been a successful first project, but in the future, it will be of a bigger scale and hopefully more beneficial for our environment.