This May a composting pilot program will go into effect in selected dorms.
There has been increased interest in composting among students in recent years. Dining halls all have post-consumer compost and are in the process of getting all the dining halls to have pre-consumer composting as well. In the last year, Dining shifting all of their to-go ware (plates, silverware, coffee cups, straws, etc) to compostable items. However, there are no compost bins outside of eating establishments (dining halls – including the recent addition of Eco Café- and Goodrich Coffee Bar).
The time seems ripe for piloting compost bins in residence halls. Dodd House and Poker Flats were selected as good places to start because of their well-used kitchens and because those residences will work well operationally for our compost hauler – T.A.M. – to pick up the bins.
Process & Timeline
Composting will begin in both residences on Monday May 8th.
All compostable items can be put in the bin: all food, compostable to-go ware
Dodd House
For Dodd, the compost bin (see photo) will be in the student kitchen. Thursday mornings the custodian will move it out in front of Dodd where it will be picked up by T.A.M. that morning. This bin is for everyone to use – not just students cooking in the kitchen. So bring your food scraps down from your room rather than throwing them in the trash.
Poker Flats
For Poker Flats, there will be 4 gallon buckets with screw-top sealable lids (see photo) that will be put in the kitchens and can be used on a daily basis. The custodian will take the smaller compost bucket out twice a week to the compost bin, which will be kept in the outdoor trash/recycling closets. What happens then?
Your Feedback
Since this is a pilot, we will rely on and value feedback from students in these residence halls as to how this process works and how it can be improved. We will send a survey towards the end of the semester.
Megamenu Social