The South Fork Natural History Museum (SOFO) & Nature Center in Bridgehampton will host a composting workshop, “Worms Eat My Garbage—Getting Started with Composting at Home,” on Saturday, March 8, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at 377 Bridgehampton/Sag Harbor Turnpike.
“We’ll have a couple of activities to make it interesting and to connect to the theories that I’m sharing,” said Rob Gelling, Environmental Educator at SOFO. “One of the activities is going to be making a kitchen waste bioreactor. It’s got living things—generally small living things—that will break down or biodegrade organic material like peels, eggshells, coffee grounds and apple cores.”
Participants with their own kitchen compost should bring it along to be part of a science experiment involving red worms, fungi, and bacteria—all part of breaking down organic waste.
The end result will also be shared with the class—the rich, fertile soil derived from SOFO’s own compost site, which far exceeds the nutrients of any store-bought gardening soil, Gelling said.
“I’ve always been hugely interested in reducing our solid waste,” Gelling, a Greenport resident, told South Shore Press. Visiting a garbage dump as a child made such an impact that it led to a 30-plus-year career as a science teacher and STEM educator.
“This one aspect of solid waste management—reduce, reuse and recycle—has stuck with me since I was a little kid going to the dump with my dad and seeing the mountains of garbage and thinking, ‘Whoa, this is not the beautiful vista that I’m used to fishing, hiking, boating and kayaking. No, I don’t like the look of this.’”
The way to change this is within everyone’s hands if they reduce, reuse, and recycle, he said, estimating that landfill waste can be reduced by at least 30 percent. He added that 3 out of 10 items tossed in the typical household trash need never see a landfill if people make more environmentally friendly choices in their everyday actions.
Today, Gelling is SOFO’s Marine Adventure Program director, environmental educator and aquarist—and a great resource for crossing kitchen composting off your to-do list.
While at the museum, visitors can explore galleries of recreated natural habitats, a marine touch tank, and, outdoors, an education pond. In season, they can also visit a native wildflower garden and a purple martin nesting site.
For hiking enthusiasts, SOFO offers prime territory for nature walks, with the nearby 40-acre Vineyard Field Preserve and Long Pond Greenbelt featuring ponds, woods, and wetlands.
Founded by naturists in 1988, SOFO is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit the website at https://sofo.org.