While many MSU students spent these past few weekends basking the sun and dreaming of summer, environmental economics policy junior Elizabeth Brajevich was in New York accepting an award from Glamour Magazine as one of their Top Ten College Women 2015.
Brajevich is the founder of Worms Eat My Garbage, a campuswide composting initiative that aims to “close the loop in our food production cycle” according to Brajevich.
As a freshman, Brajevich noticed that while MSU had composting programs in place, they took place on student organic farms that many students had no knowledge of. With the help of a $5,000 Be Spartan Greenzs grant and support from the Residential Initiative on the Study of the Environment) students, Brajevich and three of her friends were able to bring worm composting to the student greenhouse.
The money was also used to buy worms and bin materials, publicize the project and pay students to bring food waste from the Brody Square.
While Brajevich is fully aware of the impact that she has made through the Worms Eat My Garbage program, she believes that the real impact she is leaving lies in the work she does with young people.
From tutoring to teaching PE dance classes to students following budget cuts in the East Lansing School District, Brajevich’s passion for working with young people has been a key to her success. Through the Worms Eat My Garbage program, she has spoken to over 600 kids and their families about worm composting.
“I see kiddies that I know all the time in the Brody cafeteria ice cream line, I’m always recognizing some kid from the Lansing or East Lansing school district that I’ve had the opportunity to talk to about science or about how even though you’re young you can do really cool things,” Brajevich said. “It’s cool to be able to teach them about science and about worms and ecology and the importance of environmental stewardship when they’re so young and eager to learn it.”
While Brajevich is aware of how much she has managed to accomplish at such a young age, she said that she is constantly inspired to see how much her fellow students are accomplishing as well.
“I think (my success) is really exciting but it’s also interesting to see how much all of the students at MSU have accomplished. If you look around, the more you get to know people, the more you realize that your peers are doing really cool things,” Brajevich said.
