A resident of the East Village, Pulverman has always maintained an active interest in the environment. The worm lady got her start at NYU, where she majored in Metropolitan Studies and found an internship at the Ecology Center. The experience combined her two passions: a love for cities and a mission to save the earth. Pulverman teaches kids how to compost at home in worm bins and community gardens, in an outdoors classroom in East River Park. Pulverman spoke about her job that literally has all the dirty details.
How did you get into composting?
I started in college, by bringing my food scraps to the LESEC Compost Drop Off at Union Square, when I lived in an NYU dorm. When I got my own apartment, I got a worm bin.
What made you want to major in Metropolitan Studies?
I grew up in the suburbs of Southern California, and so I had an interest in cities, and how the organization of life is different from where I lived before.
Why New York in particular?
I wanted to live on the other side of the country, because staying in California would be too similar to being in high school.
I read that you studied abroad in Panama. What did you do there?
I studied the social sustainability of a really small seaweed farming project in the Caribbean off of Colón, Panamá. I looked at how the employees felt about their jobs and if they cared about the environmental impact.
How do you feel about your job?
What’s great is that my job is outside, in the East River Park, as opposed to being inside in an office building. My office is in the park, in an old fireboat house on the river. I ride my bike here; it’s a nice balance of city and nature. During the winter, we have more indoor workshops on composting, but it’s an all-year round program and students from neighboring schools come here to learn.
What are your students’ favorite things to hear about worms and composting?
They really like to hear about how the worms have babies, it is one of their favorite topics.
How do you use composting in an apartment setting – how does it compare to composting in a backyard?
I compost at home in a worm bin in my closet, as well as at my community garden, La Plaza Cultural. I don't think either is more difficult, it just depends what kind of space you have.
What is your favorite thing about your job being outdoors?
Not staring at a computer all day!
How do you see the future of the Ecology Center?
We are pretty small, with only six staff members, so we can’t really expand until we have more office space. But our compost drop-off program at the Union Square Greenmarket has doubled every spring for the past three years. We get up to six-seven tons of food scraps a week!
The cycle of composting
Unique things and people are my favorite. I had no idea there was a Manhattan Compost Project. Way to find an interesting subject.
ReplyDeleteI love this story! Recycling is so important for all of us.
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