On Governors Island this past weekend, thousands of New Yorkers in flapper dresses, sequins, and bowler hats rode the NYC Ferry to the 19th Annual Jazz Age Lawn Party. Stepping off the ferry and into the 1920s, they boogied to vibrant sets by Michael Arenella and his Dreamland Orchestra, perused vintage boutiques, and drank bubbly, getting a taste of the Gatsby Era.

And when they threw out their plastic bubbly cups, volunteers equipped with aprons, gloves, and metal tongs manned trash, recycling, and compost bins to guide them to the right destination.

In 2020, Governors Island became 100% compostable. This transition was made possible by organizations such as Earth Matter, who were responsible for overseeing the careful double-stream recycling and cleaning up after our flapper girls and gentlemen. Samantha Normandia, the Organics Recovery Coordinator for Earth Matter, explained that all food vendors and sellers must use compostable disposable goods to gain approval on the Island. The difficult part, she continued, is when partygoers bring their own disposable goods, which we then have to sort through individually.

Being an “environmentally friendly” consumer has become increasingly difficult as big brands find loopholes when labeling their products. Those green phrases such as “biodegradable,” “plant-based,” or “made from plants,” hold no worth. “Biodegradable” means it will erode into the Earth somewhere between the next 100 and one million years. “Plant-based” and “made from plants” simply indicate that at one point during production, a plant was added in. Complete word jargon.

It may feel hopeless to be a good consumer, but Earth Matter believes in small steps. Normandia believes that community-level cleaning and awareness at the individual level is most effective. She said that education is key to gradual change. For example, when partygoers see volunteers sort what they normally identify as “just trash” into three distinct streams, they pause, look at what’s in their hands, and they might even ask a question. This is where, under all those sequins, Earth Matter’s Compost Learning Center comes to shine. Open to the public Saturday and Sunday throughout the summer, people are welcome to engage in educational activities from worm bins to animal farms. The goal is for people to learn and take initiative in their own communities.

One individual took a step further with the organization. Dave K., recently retired, joined Earth Matter’s Adult Apprenticeship Program and finished with certification to care for and educate others about Governors Island’s composting system. “Doing the right thing isn’t hard; it just takes a little bit of time,” he explained, adding that he wouldn’t have found the time to participate in something he values so highly if not for his retirement. “It’s small steps, but it’s there. I mean, when was the last time you saw composting so in your face at a festival like this? When we integrate alternatives, modeling and shifting thinking creates an impact.”

Work on this tiny island seems like a goal checked off, but looming thoughts of rising sea levels, climate policy rollbacks, and the upcoming Presidential election couldn’t help but rain on this jazz parade. These efforts on a large scale seem minimal, but that’s not the mission. Earth Matter firmly believes that small steps such as raising individual awareness, community-level composting, and borough-wide conservation will bring change from Governors Island to Manhattan.To learn more, please visit https://earthmatter.org/ or visit Earth Matter on Governors Island.

Written and edited by Bridget Jinglei