Energy |  Water | Landscaping | Transportation | Recycling | Toxins

Composting preliminary data and feasibility study

In order to start a successful composting program for ULV, we first need to know how much food and landscaping waste is being produced on campus.
 

Research questions:

• How much (by volume) pre-plate food waste is produced in the kitchen at Davenport and at the Spot (or any other kitchen on campus) during a typical week?
• How much (by volume) post-plate food waste is produced at Davenport, the Spot, and any other eating facility on campus during a typical week?
• How much total waste is produced? (Dumpster loads can tell you the volume)
• Would composting the food waste at Davenport reduce the number of times the dumpster needs to be unloaded? If so, how much money would this save?
• What kind of methods would be appropriate to use to compost this waste?

Strategy:

1. Ask for help from dining and maintenance personnel to procure appropriate containers to use for collecting food waste in the dining hall (be sure to know the empty weight of each).
2. Pick a week when the team can help at most meals for collecting, gathering, and weighing.
3. Prepare a plan to educate the users: How will you inform the kitchen staff of the collection bins? How will you inform diners of the collection bins? (Perhaps post someone next to each bin for the duration of several meals; the person would talk to each diner approaching the bins and inform them of what goes into the composting bin, and what needs to be thrown away. Post fliers; make instruction pages for the bins, etc.)
4. Set the containers in the kitchen and the dining area in convenient areas.
5. Collect food scraps for each meal.
6. Weigh the containers at the end of each meal. As of yet, we have no composting program, so then empty them into the dumpsters and properly store each.
7. Continue at each meal for one week.
8. Keep track of progress. Are any drawbacks or problems becoming apparent? What improvements would you suggest to location of bins, education of users, etc.?
9. Calculate: What is the total volume of food waste for the week? (this helps to determine composting strategies, etc.)
10. Research: What kind of composting methods are available? Which way would be appropriate for this volume of food waste? What plans are already underway at ULV? What other materials would be needed?
11. Calculate, research: How much does the dumpster hold (volume)? How often does it need to be emptied? How much does each dumpster load cost to empty?
12. Calculate: What is the total percent by volume of food waste for a typical week?
13. How much would the dining hall save by removing the food waste from the dumpsters (how many fewer times does it have to be unloaded in a week)?
14. Report: Summarize conclusions, articulate suggestions, etc.
15. Report: Present to Sustainable Campus Task Force. Give a copy of written results to dining services, and one to operations/maintenance department with results and suggestions highlighted.

Additional:

Have you answered the research questions? What further questions arose from this study? Suggest: Should additional studies be undertaken? If so, with the same method, or with another method?
Be sure to detail your study methods so they can be replicated if necessary.
Research case studies: What other schools have undertaken such a study? What were the results?
Keep bibliography and details of sources (make sure someone else can follow your paper trail! What if someone wanted to contact another school such as the one you found for the case study?)

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