Off-season graduate apprentices, Michelle and Imane, are two amazing women who are inclined to look for ways to improve their knowledge around helping to heal the earth, and understand how to implement these practices in their own lives. They bonded during their Earth Matter off-season apprenticeship.
Soon after joining our apprenticeship in November, Michelle became a GrowNYC Compost Outreach Coordinator for the Borough Hall and Columbia University farmer’s markets. Her experience with processing GrowNYC food scraps with us during the apprenticeship and beyond, have assisted her ability to educate the neighbors who drop off at the markets. Michelle is not shy about saying “Take off those rubber bands around the parley bunches!, Take the coffee out of the plastic lined paper bags! or Chop your Hubbard squash–it saves room in your freezer!” These tips go a long way, lessening time on the back end of decontaminating and pre-processing. Michelle has become a mainstay of our Earth Matter volunteer base, always dependable, always offering to lend a hand, and always with good cheer. Often Michelle has filled in for an animal care volunteer shift for a volunteer with last minute schedule changes. We are very grateful!
Imane is a 2015 Brooklyn College graduate with a BA degree in Urban Sustainability. What is striking about her personality is her fearlessness to jump in to a situation. A quick learner, Imane enjoyed learning to use tools to help rebuild our “hot chicks” room (greenhouse) in the bitter January cold, filed our shovels with an even and easy stroke, and asked great questions about windrow composition that showed us she has taken in some of the art and science factors that go into creating good compost.
Imane has been applying her sustainability management practices at her cafe job. She reported that she challenges the Company’s generic misuse/overuse of the word “organic” in regard to the food the cafe sells. We know that Imane will be “pushing the card” for people to be looking deeper at what is being said, and what is actually being done in the area of sustainability practices.
We are impressed with the dedication both Michelle and Imane have applied to their training program and know that many people will be positively affected by their bright lights.
By Marisa DeDominicis