We decided that for our Action Project, we would create a Greenhouse
and Composting System for New Vista High School. We thought this would
be a good thing to do because, after we are all gone from NVHS, future
students would have a CE or Workshop that focused on the concepts of
composting and growing that a greenhouse could provide.

In order to set up this resource, however, we had to do a lot of
legwork in the community. We contacted professional growers and
gathered their advice on what kind of greenhouse to build and what type
of operation to run. The following are some of the people we spoke
with:

• We met with Growing Gardens, a community gardening project and
  facility in North Boulder. They were very helpful in explaining to us
  the different types of greenhouses and composting systems.
• We also met with Cyndra Deitz, Eco-Cycle’s School Recycling and
  Environmental Education Program Director, who instructed us what type
  of composting system would work best for the scale of our project
  as well as the potential future applications of our program.
• Boulder Compost Company owner and operator Eric Simenson was kind
  enough to share his knowledge of “vermiposting,” which is composting
  using the help of worms. He brought in some bins to demonstrate the
  process, and he also gave us a great plan for building our own worm
  composting bin and system.
• Bryce Brown, founder of Our Love of Children Foundation, spoke to
  us about the project at Creekside Elementary where the school garden is
  used to augment school lunch for students. He shared visions of what a
  school garden could grow into and got us all very excited to continue
  our project.

In addition to speaking to professionals in the community, we also
were given a huge amount of support from local businesses interested in
our project.

• ReSource, a sustainable building supplier using recycled
  construction and building materials, donated ANY materials we could
  find in their yard for absolutely FREE. This was really great and it
  made us see that some businesses really do practice what they preach.

• McGuckins Hardware was very supportive in their donation of
  $120 of building supplies towards the creation of our greenhouse and
  composting system. Again, we were surprised by these local businesses’
  belief in our action project.

Ultimately, we spent over seven weeks getting the logistics together
so that this greenhouse could be built. It is with great enthusiasm
that we are passing on this project to future CAP classes and look
forward to seeing the structure up and running soon!