ROBIN ROEMER/THE ITHACAN SCHWARTZ WEEDS PEPPERS in the organic garden. Cultivating an organic garden takes more work than a normal garden because no pesticides are used. ROBIN ROEMER/THE ITHACAN ANDREW SCHWARTZ ’02 tends the peppers in the newly established organic garden. The garden is located on the north side of campus, behind the Office of the Physical Plant. The garden is a step toward global sustainability.

At the north end of campus, three rows of peppers, broccoli, and tomatoes are growing despite the interference of woodchucks, weeds, and insects. The rows are the humble beginnings of an organic garden, one of the many projects Mark Darling, recycling program coordinator, is proud of.

"People don't know just how good we are," Mark Darling said. When reviewing how "green" the Ithaca campus was last year, he gave the college a B plus for environmental consciousness.

The college boasts an advanced recycling program, a compost facility and a comprehensive environmental plan.

"We need to shout about that a little," Darling said.

Darling said there are many good programs in place, but they will only help the college if students know about them and participate in them. That is why he is trying to educate incoming freshman and returning students about what it means to be a "green" campus.

The organic garden is one part of that education process. The garden is cultivated without the use of pesticides, weed-killers or genetically modified seeds. That way, the soil won't be poisoned or the ecosystem disrupted. This is the first year Ithaca College has had an organic garden, and it wasn't easy to get started.

"It was a bad spring," Darling said. "We had to downsize a little. Our grand plan didn't work out."

Though the cold, wet weather made it difficult at first, the garden continued to grow, with the help of Andrew Schwartz '02. Schwartz stayed in Ithaca over the summer to work on the garden.

In an interview last spring, Schwartz explained why he supported organic farming.

"It's important for people to feel connected with where their food is coming from É and it's important for people to know they can grow good, healthy, tasty food without destroying the land or shipping it across the world," Schwartz said.

The garden provides an opportunity for students to work in agriculture.

Darling said he hopes to sell this year's produce in the Campus Center, but he doesn't have permission to do so yet.

Sophomore Kristina Plath, the student who spearheaded the organic garden movement, said in an earlier interview that she hoped to eventually introduce organic food into the dining halls.

"The organic garden is one huge step towards sustainability," she said.

Sustainability is the practice of using resources wisely so there are enough left for the future - and students don't have to work in the organic garden to do that.

As soon as students arrive at Ithaca College and start unpacking all those boxes they brought, they make choices that affect how much it costs to support life on campus.

"We get mountains, piles, tons Ð literally tons Ð of cardboard," Darling said. "We process more cardboard in the first three weeks of the semester than we do in the next three months."

Darling has a whole package of paperwork to put up around the residence halls, including instructions on how to recycle everything from boxes to plastic containers.

"There will be Dumpsters designated for cardboard around all the residence halls," Darling said. "We ask that you take the stuffing out and fold the boxes flat."

Darling said that students actually save money when they recycle, because a box company in Syracuse buys back the cardboard. Students also save money when they conserve energy. Every year, their tuition money goes toward paying the school's $2.7 million electrical bill.

"You figure out how many aid packages that is," Darling said.

Bonnie Solt Prunty, director of residential life and judicial affairs, said that it is part of students' responsibilities as community members to be environmentally conscious.

"Like with any issue, there is a core group of students that take responsibility and see this as part of their identity," Prunty said. "And they provide a lot of the initiative for the education we do."

What we need to work with is the group of students that if they are informed and reminded, they'll participate, but they aren't going to wake up one morning and think, 'This is the day I'm going to start recycling.'"

Prunty said Darling came and spoke to the resident assistants about the importance of "trying to get people into good habits from the time they arrive." She also said the RAs responded well to his message. "Part of their role, just as community members and also as leaders in their residence halls is getting the information out and reminding and encouraging students [to recycle]," Prunty said.