Member Feature: Heather Feenstra

Many people have a vivid childhood memory of worms –worms on the sidewalk after it rains, worms in an old compost pile or in the black soil of a garden. There is something grotesque, yet interesting about worms that draws children in to examine our pink squirmy friends.  Earth Matters worm bin library program, launched this year, utilizes the innate allure of worms to demonstrate the processes of decomposition, lifecycles, and waste reduction to students in the Wild Voices for Kids program.

“I really love the worm bin library program; it’s a tactile way for composting - for waste reduction to be normalized in schools.  Hopefully kids can get excited about the biology of decomposition and at the same time understand the role of composting in the maintenance of our soils, our climate and our food production systems.  Children can teach their parents and the whole community can benefit.” says Heather Feenstra of Earth Matters.

Eleven bins were purchased to outfit the worm bin library. The program is free of charge to schools.  Borrowing times are agreed upon by the classroom teacher and Earth Matters. Usually they range from a month to a whole year.  The worm bin library was made possible from the additional funding of Columbia Basin Trust, the Regional District of the Central Kootenay and Nelson CARES Society.

Earth Matters, a program of Nelson CARES Society has been doing environmental education for 17 years in Nelson.  It started in 1995 when the program was called “Hands On” it did youth based projects relating to social justice and the environment.  Through the years Earth Matters has completed many projects, some of which are quite visible in the community: the medicinal herbal demonstration garden at Cottonwood Falls including the straw bale structure and the Hendryx St. Forest Garden.  Recently, Earth Matters has been doing composting based projects.  Through much of 2011 Earth Matters did a lot of compost education in the community at the markets, through the Earth Matters ECO Centre, and in classrooms.

Much of this education was facilitated by Heather Feenstra. She is the environmental educator for Earth Matters and an instructor for the Wild Voices for Kids program.  She got her feet wet in environmental education while traveling in Brazil where her love of the arts prompted her to join a traveling permaculture and social justice education circus.  Upon returning to Canada she participated in several community arts education programs in the Okanagan.  In 2009 she moved to Nelson and started working with Earth Matters in various roles.