'Earth Service Corps' - Common App ~ Activity Essay

Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences in the space below (1000 character maximum).

I got involved in the composting program in my high school during my sophomore year when I discovered that a significant amount of compostable food and paper waste was ending up in the garbage. The thought of all that material - which could be put to good use as fertilizer - being left to rot without purpose in a landfill irked me. I decided to do something about it, taking time out of my lunch break to collect uneaten food and paper waste from students who had finished their lunches and to pull compost from garbage bins. Since then I have come to do so during most of my lunches. Over the past year I've taken a leadership role in Earth Service Corps, the club that oversees the composting program; I'm now personally responsible for making sure the compost gets taken out. Dealing with nasty food scraps and uncooperative students can be tough sometimes, but the knowledge that you're keeping waste out of landfills, helping out the environment in some small way, can be quite rewarding.

I got involved in the composting program in my high school during my sophomore year when I discovered that a significant amount of compostable food and paper waste was ending up in the garbage.

You could say it like this: "In 10th grade, I became involved in a composting program. I had witnessed a significant amount of compostable food and paper waste being thrown into the garbage."

The thought of all that material - which could be put to good use as fertilizer - being left to rot without purpose in a landfill irked me.

Maybe say it like this: "I was saddened by the thought of those materials rotting in the landfill, instead of being put to good use as fertilizer."

I decided to do something about it, taking time out of my lunch break to collect uneaten food and paper waste from students who had finished their lunches and to pull compost from garbage bins.

Or say it like this, "I became motivated to spend a few minutes during lunchtime to collect uneaten food and paper waste from students who had finished their lunches and to pull compost from garbage bins."

Since then, I have come to do somade this a routine during most of my lunches.