Written by Shaw Israel Izikson, The BerkshireEdge
“We chose this project because we didn’t have much composting in the community yet, and we wanted to make a positive impact in the community,” Eva told The Berkshire Edge. “Composting can really help the environment.”
Berkshire County — Cadettes from local Girl Scout Troop 64834 were recently awarded the Silver Award for establishing a composting program at Lenox Memorial Middle and High School.
According to the Girl Scouts website, the Silver Award is one of the highest awards a cadette can earn.
In order to earn the award, members of a troop must find an issue, explore how the issue affects the community, create a project that can lead to a lasting change in the community, make a plan in order to implement the change, and set the plan in motion.
As part of the project, the cadettes created educational pamphlets, a 45-page report on what they learned, an Instagram account encouraging composting, and an instructional video on how to use a composter.
The following cadettes received the prestigious award: Lee High School student Eva Lovett, Monument Mountain High School student Lily Tatro, Valley West School of Chicopee student Serenity Kay, and Lenox High School student Audrey Hochler.
“We chose this project because we didn’t have much composting in the community yet, and we wanted to make a positive impact in the community,” Eva told The Berkshire Edge. “Composting can really help the environment.”
“Food waste is a really big problem in the United States,” Lily said. “We wanted to help find a way to solve the problem and do what we can. We learned about the different kinds of composting someone can do. We went around downtown Great Barrington with our pamphlets and gave out our pamphlets to raise awareness about composting and to give them information about what tools they need to start their own composting projects.”
“We learned a lot about food waste and what happens to food when it is disposed of,” Audrey said.
Troop co-leader Amanda Hanlin-Hochler said that the project was a 50-hour collaborative effort. “It pushed the cadettes outside of their comfort zones,” Hanlin-Hochler said. “They had to collaborate and talk to people in public, and each one of them had to take leadership roles. It was a very gigantic time commitment, and I’m really proud of the girls.”