This project an expansion of the pollinator garden-composting system (“carbon garden”) funded by the SSC in 2019 to three additional student-managed gardens to foster environmental stewardship among UIUC students, decrease wasteful practices through behavior changes and increase landscape resiliency. Students from three departments will install and maintain these garden-composting systems, reducing food waste greenhouse gas emissions and supporting endangered pollinators/microfauna. The gardens will also reinforce responsible stewardship increasing inclusivity of indigenous students with similar values. 

Proposed gardens are at the Institute for Genome Biology (IGB) (West side), Davenport Hall (Northeast side) and the Vivarium (Northeast and Southeast sides). These plots, planted with native flowering plants and grasses, watered from rain barrels and trench composted with personal food scraps will support local endangered pollinators and microfauna (salamanders), serve as a small scale composting initiative, reduce food waste greenhouse gas emissions and promote behavior change in participants/observers. Maintained by Anthropology, Chemistry and Integrative Biology department students, these gardens will train students in reducing emissions, building resilient landscapes, and reinforce concepts of land-based learning and responsible stewardship – mindfulness for the space that one occupies. As such associated research programs will be more inclusive of indigenous students sharing similar values.