OUTREACH
Erica Schoman 11, left, and Nzingha Ford 10 work with Rowan Stephenson, 7 (son of Keeton House Assistant Dean Ethan Stephenson), to build a sustainable greenhouse made of plastic soda bottles at the Ithaca Childrens Garden April 10. See larger image
Students use 900 plastic bottles to build greenhouse for Ithaca Children's Garden
Students living in Cornell's William Keeton House on West Campus haven't just been busy doing homework, but some 55 of them have been collecting plastic soda bottles -- more than 900 of them. And they turned them "green" in April when they recycled the bottles into walls for a sustainable greenhouse at the Ithaca Children's Garden in Cass Park.
At the community build, about two dozen students cleaned, cut the ends off and stuck the bottles on bamboo dowels. They attached the panels to a 5-by-6-foot wooden frame they had previously constructed from rot-resistant, locally harvested black locust using a $2,000 grant from the Community Partnership Board, a Cornell student organization that funds student-run grassroots community-service projects.
Detail of the sustainable greenhouse at the Ithaca Children's Garden. See larger image
The result is a greenhouse for starter flower and vegetable plants as well as a home to protect vegetation from rabbits and deer, according to Dayna Zolle '11, a government major who wrote the grant proposal.
The three-acre garden offers education classes, tours and workshops for the community and includes a giant turtle play structure and wetland, edible herb garden, labyrinth and bird habitat. The project is the first in what Keeton House residents plan to be an ongoing relationship with the Ithaca Children's Garden.
Also in April, for example, the students started building a "sound garden" with a grant from the Cornell Council for the Arts and in collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension. The garden will include, among other permanently installed structures with which children can make noise, a flower-shaped structure with petals like steel drums.
Another look at the sustainable greenhouse at the Ithaca Children's Garden. See larger image
The project not only benefits local children but also provides students with reasons to go downtown.
"Ithaca has many great things to offer, but all too often life on the hill eclipses the experience of being an Ithacan," says Jill Cohen, a doctoral student in natural resources and graduate resident fellow at Keeton House.
"The long-term impact of this sustained partnership will be that it will help to create a culture of service for Keeton residents as well as supporting the development of the Ithaca Children's Garden," says Rammy Salem '10, a Keeton House student assistant, government major, Public Service Center scholar and president of the Student Assembly.
Keeton House students participate for various reasons, from loving to pour concrete -- "I love construction … My favorite part is pouring a concrete foundation. … [it helps] ensure a good night's sleep," says Kevin Muich '12, a civil engineering major -- to getting experience in construction.
"I love doing hands-on projects and seeing the final product come together," says Lee Ann Richardson '10, a civil engineering major and the design and construction chair for the project. "It was a bonus to be able to make something for the community to enjoy, using recycled and repurposed materials. I want to do construction management after I graduate, and this project was a way to do a little of that along with my classes."
Visit http://ccext.net/ithacachildrensgarden/ for more information.