Dorothy Lee is not only a phenomenal Rutgers student, a boss girl, an eco-friendly queen, but she is the president of RU Compost. Dorothy is passionate about sustainability and promoting environmental friendliness to help keep our Earth clean. She agreed to be interviewed by Her Campus Rutgers to talk about her passion of sustainability and RU Compost.
Photo of Dorothy Lee
- What is RU Compost?
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This group is for anyone interested in establishing a larger importance on composting/food waste at Rutgers. Our overall goals are to educate our peers and the community about food waste and to recover food scraps which decompose into nutrient-rich compost soil. We also enjoy working with other organizations to create a more sustainable community!
- Can you tell us a little bit about some of the ways RU Compost helps to create a sustainable community? Do you have any upcoming events?
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We volunteer often at different community gardens in New Brunswick. We built our own three-bin compost system in March 2017, where students can drop off their food scraps located in Cook/Douglass. They were incorporated into a Food Waste Management class in Fall 2017 and 2018 taught by Dr. Jill Lipoti and Dr. Xenia Morin as a hands-on demonstration. We also visit other farms and gardens to learn about what they are doing and how their composting processes work:). Lastly, we collaborate with Elijiah’s Promise and Harmony Family Success Center, both in New Brunswick, to plan fun and educational events for the local community!
Starting this semester we started collecting food scraps on College Ave in front of the Hillel Center. This was to increase composting accessibility for students who don’t go to Cook/Douglass often. We have been collecting about 100 lbs. of food scraps, a week and will continue doing so until May 5th! Visit us on Sundays from 10-11AM in front of the Hillel Center, by the Scott Hall bus stop on College Ave!
- What drives your passion for sustainability and eco-friendliness?
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I am passionate about advocating for communities of color and how we can come together to help each other and fight for our rights. I also believe we need to care for our environment because without it, we as humans would not be able to survive and the most disadvantaged people would be affected the most first.
- What are some ways that students can help keep the Earth clean in our daily lives?
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Students can collect their food scraps and bring them to our Sunday collections. Also, picking up trash you see on the ground instead of passing by it or joining a stream clean up will make you realize how much trash we have around and how it’s not properly thrown away or recycled. Also to reduce some single-use plastic use, you can refuse plastic utensils and containers and instead bring reusable utensils and/or containers to use.
- What kind of experience or background do you need to be a member of RU Compost?
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No background knowledge is necessary! We welcome all who are interested in or want to learn more about reducing food waste, diverting it from landfills, and creating nutrient-rich soil from it.
- For someone interested in joining RU Compost, how would they go about doing that?
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Follow us on Facebook and Insta to learn more about us and look through our announcements for where the bins are located and what can and cannot go in them! You can also contact us through email: rucompost@gmail.com, for more information on how you can get involved!
Thank you so much for this interview. It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to sit and chat with Dorothy Lee, president of RU Compost. As someone who tries to be environmentally friendly, I am so glad that Rutgers offers students a whole club dedicated to promoting sustainability. If you want to be active in helping keep our Earth clean, be sure to check out RU Compost!