During a seasonal park clean-up event at the Northwest Community Park, a student-run nonprofit organization recycled more than 50 pounds of litter. The nonprofit’s board of directors aims to install composting bins in schools across multiple districts while also juggling their lives as highly-achieving high school students.
Compostify is a nonprofit that reinforces the importance of recycling and composting within Rock Hill. Four juniors, Arya Batchala, Harsha Kannappan, Shreyas Manthri and Sowmya Velayutham, started this nonprofit in April of 2023. The students first considered the idea after watching a documentary about the human imprint on the environment.
“In English class, after watching Seaspiracy, that documentary made me and my friends emotional, so at lunch, we decided to create a nonprofit,” Compostify Student Operations Coordinator Manthri explained. “We put a hold on it for a month for finals, but after that, in my AP World class, Harsha talked about composting, and I came up with an idea of reducing food waste in the school to be more sustainable.”
Compostify prioritizes spreading awareness through the volunteers, and presents information about the benefits of composting and recycling to its volunteers at clean-up events. The nonprofit also works to implement its initiatives in schools across the district.
“We’re trying to compost in the school so we can use the food waste and use it through compost bins for the school gardens. We’re trying this by contacting several organizations and the principal, and planning park clean-ups,” Compostify Student Outreach Director Velayutham said. “We’re growing exponentially and that’s what’s most important to us.”
Roughly ten volunteers helped out at Compostify’s first park clean-up in July of 2023, whereas their second one in October of 2023 had more than thirty. While they are still growing, they have bigger goals for the outreach they are trying to make.
“As of now, we have only done a few park clean-ups, but we want to expand and start composting in schools,” Compostify Program Development Director Kannapan said. “The next step is to start that in our high school and to expand in other high schools as well.”
Although they are a fastly growing nonprofit, Compostify admits that they face challenges as a student-led organization.
“Because of our age, many people are often overlooking us thinking we’re just a bunch of teenagers.” Compostify Finance Operations Director Batchala said. “Just overcoming that stigma of being in high school doesn’t mean you can do anything is something we want to face; yes, it’s been challenging, but I believe we can beat it.”
While they do have obstacles to overcome, the directors of Compostify share how spreading awareness and sharing stories with people in their community is their favorite part of being a director.
“One week ago, we started marketing, and elementary kids asked us what Compostify is. I said it’s just helping the environment, and this made them yell, ‘Go Compostify! I want to help the environment!’” Batchala said. “It showed me the impact of creating awareness, and I really saw a change. I was pretty happy because we are involved in making [Compostify] a reality.”
The impact of Compostify’s events and ambitions are reflected in the hearts of many volunteers. Dilli Babu Subramaniam, an adult volunteer who often brings his daughter to the Northeast Community Park, explained how inspiring Compostify is.
(Anjana Saravanan)
“I am really impressed with how well they did and [they are] good at spreading awareness for the whole program,” community member Subramaniam said. “It’s especially good because there are a lot of nuisances happening in this park. It’s a remarkable thing these young kids do, so I want to be a part of their team.”
Volunteers like Subramaniam are the heart of Compostify. Directors of Compostify have expressed their love for their volunteers, and encourage others to volunteer with them.
“If I had a message for people looking to volunteer with us, I would say that it’s really inspiring to be a part of something bigger than yourself.” Velayutham said. “[People] should definitely get involved with something like Compostify if the environment is also something they care about, like us.“
Contact Sowmya Velayutham for more information regarding Compostify.
![Custodian Blanca Templeton works after school to keep school clean. “My favorite part [of this job] is just working, cleaning, cleaning the office, the restroom, [all] the rooms,” Templeton said.](https://rockhillmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Janitor-1200x800.jpg)
