Sage is Composting

Composting with Kirk and Kyle 

Composting is a organic matter that has been decomposed and recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment. Kirk and I have chosen to do composting in the garden. Mr Smiley has been nice to give us a bin to use behind the dining hall for composting. Right now our compost is coming from Sage's food scraps(organic matter) from there preparation of every meal. Our school is still not to the step of being able to scrape our food scraps from our plates straight into a compost bin. Our job is to teach the community how to compost. Our goal is too educate the community so that we can have a composting bin in the dining hall for every meal. 

Composting is sustainable because it fits the three E's fractal. 

Environment: Helps the environment because there is less waste in our landfills, has more nutrients for the crops and a natural fertilizer.

Equity: our school isn't at the top level of equity for composting because the student population can't seperate cans from our trash, what makes them able to seperate compostable and non compostable foods when clearing there plates.

Economy: by composting you are removing trash that the school would pay to have take to the landfill. There for you would be saving money by composting  The produce is used in the dining hall for our meals and could be eventually used for compost.  

Cans for Oysters, lets help!

Cans for oysters is a process where we recycle cans for oysters. After we collect cans from everybody at Christchurch we recycle them and use the money to buy oysters. Oysters do a process called, "filter feeding" which help filter the water by sucking all the nutrients of the water and letting it back out again. Not only we receive oysters but we recycle the cans which helps the environment much more because we won't have to keep manufacturing from raw materials if we can recycle items that we use.

Ecology: 
      -Aluminum cans can be re made again after recycling really quickly.
-Oysters help filter the water out in the bay and Rappahannock River.
-Recycling cans saves natural resources.
-Recycling cans saves land that is going to destroyed for trash.

Economy:
-If we recycle cans we can re-use the can and that would be saving tons of money.
-When we recycle the money not only we save money but we also receive money for the cans.
-These days many people drink from aluminum cans and aluminum has a really high market price.
-When recycled some recycling company's donate money for good uses.
-Recycling creates jobs

Equity: 
- Cans for oysters strengthens the community because there are many people working on the same project
-This would help people give jobs.
-Saves acres of land from being landfill which can be very expensive.
-Recycling cans would cause nothing harmful because all you have to do is put a can in an recycling bin.
-Obtaining oysters is not a hard job and is not harmful.

Mrs. and Mr. Maloney 

Vegetable lovers

By Turner Thompson 

What a CSA is:

A CSA is Community Supported Agriculture, this means that the community gives the grower money and in return they get a portion of what is grown. Ours truly, Mr. Smiley has a share with the Daysprings Farm and for 15 dollars a week he gets an entire grocery bag of vegetables and other food. The food is grown seasonally witch makes it fresher with out all the harsh chemicals that are used in food like strawberry’s to make them grow in December. At day springs farm everything is grown in its season so it has the best taste when you eat it.

Why Join a CSA:

The advantages of being apart of a CSA like day springs is you get to know were your food comes from, who is making it, and how it is being made. This ability to contact the grower gives you a better relationship with your grower. 

How does this affect you?

“Humans know quality. We put north face jackets on without hesitation because we know it is a quality item. But something strange has happened we have lost our sense of quality in our food.” Mr. Smiley. What he means by this is we care more about what is on our body than what we put into it. At a CSA you will know what you are getting how it is grown and where it is coming from. That is food quality. 

What do they grow?

• 30 variations of vegetables
• 6 types of fruit
• 30 chickens 
• 2 goats 
• 2 pigs 
• 2 horses
• 20 types of flowers 
•  6 types of herbs

The Three E’s

It creates jobs for people like the Maloney’s, and is an equitable thing to do. If you want you can go and get a lesion on how to grow your own food. When you invest your money in a CSA it will get pumped into your local economy. This makes your small town stronger. Along with that it takes less energy to transport. Witch makes it better for the environment.

From Aluminum to $ to Oysters, the Great Journey

From Cans To Cash to Oysters, The Great Journey

The water quality, and clarity, of the Rappahannock River has drastically decreased as time has progressed. During the time of John Smith it is said that the water was so clear, a person could see the bottom at depths of up to twenty-five feet; it is also said that the oyster reefs were so massive that they rose out of the water during low-tide, and that a ship could not navigate the rivers due to the massive oyster reefs. This high quality of water, due to the oysters, allowed fish to grow to massive size, and populations; it is said that a person could simply hold a frying pan over the water and catch enough fish to last him weeks. Sadly these facts no longer apply in this current time; however this problem can be fixed.           

Christchurch School is a co-educational boarding school in Urbana, Virginia; many of its classes focus on the environment and sustainability. However one class, Local and Contemporary Environmental Issues, taught by William Smiley is completely centered on environmental issues, and sustainability, and how to create a better world. There are many focuses of this class, which include composting, reducing waste, recycling, gardening, and cans for oysters. Cans for oysters is a student-run program which focuses on oyster restoration in the Rappahannock River. Cans for oysters’ uses a very interesting system.

Christchurch and its’ partners, (a local church, elementary school, Middlesex Women’s Club, and the Kiwanis club), collect aluminum cans, once they have a substantial amount of cans collected they place the cans into plastic bags, load them into a truck, and take them to Middlesex Metals (a local recycling business). Once there the cans are weighted, (one pound of aluminum equals forty-five cents), and money is paid to Christchurch based off of the weight of the cans. Christchurch then uses this money to buy oysters (Christchurch has calculated that one can equals about one oyster). Christchurch then places the oysters in a tub filled with water and spat, (spat is an organism which lives on the oyster and filters the water). Once the spat has attached themselves to the oysters, Christchurch students place the oysters into bushel baskets, and then they reintroduce the oysters into the Rappahannock River!

Cans for oysters is able to help improve and sustain the local economy, and environment. It also improves local equity. Cans for oysters’ supports the local economy by increasing the amount of money the school obtains; due to the fact the recycling company pays money for the aluminum cans. The school uses the majority of this money to buy oysters’, thus helping out the people who sell these oysters. It also supports the local economy due to the fact it uses a local business to recycle the aluminum. Cans for oysters improves the local environment by creating fresh water (one oyster can filter up to fifty gallons of water every day), creating a safe habitat for marine animals by creating oyster reefs. It also decreases the amount of cans in landfills; due to the fact the cans are recycled through Middlesex Metals. Cans for oysters improves local equity due to the fact it educates Christchurch students, and the local community about the importance of recycling, and preserving the environment. It also allows the community to reverse the damage it has done to the river. It allows Christchurch students, and other members of the local community, to work together in order to build oyster reefs and recycle aluminum, thus helping the environment. Community members at, and beyond, Christchurch collect cans and donate them to the school. They are helping improve local waterways by donating their cans to Christchurch. Christchurch has partnered with a local church, elementary school, Middlesex Women’s Club, and the Kiwanis club in order to help increase the amount of cans it recycles; thus increasing the amount of oysters they buy.

If you are interested in Christchurch School, or helping advance the cans for oysters program please email, John E. Byers (headmaster) (jbyers@christchurchschool.org), or William Smiley (sustainability coordinator) (wsmiley@christchurchschool.org).

Written by: Bryce Norvell