Category: Colleges & Universities

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Recent case studies: Composting at schools & universities

We Compost logo from IFSCC.

Below are some recent examples of composting programs at K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. If you’re in IL and your school is composting on-site or via a commercial composting program, I encourage you to seek out “We Compost” recognition via the Illinois Food Scrap & Composting Coalition (IFSCC). The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) is a proud organizational member! Learn more at https://illinoiscomposts.org/we-compost/ and check out the list of IL universities and schools that have already been recognized at https://illinoiscomposts.org/we-compost/universities-schools/.

K-12 schools

  • Park City, UT students divert thousands of pounds of food waste through lunchtime composting program.  “PARK CITY, Utah — Lunchtime at Jeremy Ranch Elementary School comes with the usual din of children laughing, eating, and talking, but as the kids finish their food something different happens. Each child makes their way to plastic bins in the middle of the cafeteria and begins to sort the items left on their tray between those that can and can’t be composted. Student members of the school’s Green Team supervise their peers during this process. They help younger classmates put food and garbage into the right bins, and correct any mistakes…This is all a part of Jeremy Ranch Elementary’s composting program, which is run in collaboration with the Parent Teacher Organization, and community partners like EATS Park City, Recycle Utah, and Spoil to Soil. Similar programs have popped up in schools throughout Park City School District.” Read more at https://townlift.com/2023/03/park-city-students-divert-thousands-of-pounds-of-food-waste-through-lunchtime-composting-program/.
  • Natick’s Wilson Middle school enriched with cafeteria composting program. [Massachusetts] “On their way back to class, the 5th-8th graders make their way over to bins and commence participation in the 4-week old WMS composting program. Whatever is left over on their trays, they sort for proper disposal. Items such as plastics, styrofoam containers, tin foil, and wax-coated paper plates go into the trash en route to a landfill. But thanks to the school’s new composting program, food scraps, soiled paper products, and certified compostable tableware go into bins lined with compostable bags. From there, Black Earth Compost comes to the school weekly to collects the food waste, which it turns into nutrient-rich compost…It took the leadership efforts of two WMS 8th graders to move the needle forward. Jojo Flynn and Lily Wheeler knew the local infrastructure was in place to accommodate a composting program at Wilson. After all, hundreds of Natick households were involved, plus the high school already had a successful composting program. They wondered why their school wasn’t doing the same. So Jojo and Lily took the issue up with school administration and got in contact with Natick’s Director of Sustainability, Jillian Wilson-Martin. It turns out the support was there, but the initiative needed a push from conservation-minded activists ready to get involved.” Read more at https://www.natickreport.com/2023/03/naticks-wilson-middle-school-enriched-with-cafeteria-composting-program/.

Colleges & Universities

  • Scraps to soil: How Princeton’s food waste is recycled on and off campus. ‘Every day, Princeton students eat food in dining halls, dutifully scrape their leftovers into metal chutes labeled “Food Waste & Napkins,” and move on with their days…”A food scrap actually has a lot of value when you return it to the earth in a responsible way,” Food Systems Project Specialist Gina Talt ’15 emphasized…On campus, she manages the composting program at Princeton’s S.C.R.A.P. (Sustainable Composting Research at Princeton) Lab. The lab, affectionately known as “Scrappy,” launched in 2018 through a grant secured by the Office of Sustainability. The project operates year-round, using small-scale composting technology to process food and turn it into nutrient-dense soil to be used as fertilizer on Princeton’s grounds.’ Read more at https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2023/03/composting-and-reuse-of-princeton-food-waste-trenton-biogas-methane-scrap-lab.
  • Sustainability Office’s composting program wins state award. “SUNY Oswego’s Office of Sustainability and its manager, Kate Spector, have earned the 2022 College Recycling Leadership Award from the New York State Association of Reduction, Reuse and Recycling (NYSAR3) for its composting project…In its first year, the composting pilot project diverted more than 80,000 pounds of food waste from landfills and incinerators, attracting many supporters and becoming implemented at all dining facilities…With this program, both pre-consumer food waste and non-donatable leftover food scraps were composted. Additionally, this program allowed for Bristol Hill Transfer Station to work towards becoming a designated organics recycling location.” Read more at https://www.oswego.edu/news/story/sustainability-office%E2%80%99s-composting-program-wins-state-award.
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VermiCUlture promotes vermicomposting in Champaign-Urbana

VermiCUlture logo

This post originally appeared on the Illinois Food Scrap Coalition (IFSC) blog. Thanks to IFSC and to Madalyn Liberman and Stuart Seputro, two of the groups’ founders, for their insights and assistance with this blog post.

“[Our project] vermiCUlture, which stands for vermicomposting in the Champaign-Urbana area, was started by myself and other Fred S. Bailey Scholar students at the University YMCA as part of the Global YMCA Youth Climate Summit in October 2020,” Madalyn Liberman told IFSC. “As part of this summit, we were tasked with creating a local solution to a climate issue with the chance to receive funding to address that issue. Our project was aimed at addressing the lack of sustainable food waste disposal options in the area by educating community members about food waste/composting and providing training and equipment for individuals to start vermicomposting in their home. We received a little over $9000 to implement this project and have been working on it since last October.”

“With the hope of involving more students on campus and to create a lasting project, we decided to become a registered student organization (RSO) at the University of Illinois this spring. The initial creators of the organization and current executive board members are Stuart Seputro (President), Lavanya Upadhyaya, Griselda Escobedo, Sophie Luijten, and Rebecca Hanks, but we have gained many more students since becoming a RSO. That will soon be showcased on our website,” said Liberman.

The student group notified CU area residents about the program through various newsletters and social media advertisements. Their initial goal was to get 50 participants to receive vermicomposting kits and training, with distribution provided on a first come, first served basis.

At this time, the group doesn’t have many metrics to share, but thus far, 48 participants have engaged with the program. “We were not able to get the full-size kits out to these 48 participants due to supply chain issues as well as issues regarding time and helping hands,” said Liberman. “Instead, we were able to start with a kickoff event with around 30 participants. These participants received mini educational kits containing 5-10 worms and were guided through creating worm bins using old food or takeout containers from their homes. This event, on April 17 and 18, 2021, allowed participants to come in and create their kit in an assembly-line style fashion with explanations about each component of the composting bin (i.e. bedding material, worms, water, etc.). While we weren’t able to get participants the full-sized kits this semester, we have actively been working with local businesses and organizations to take 3-5 gallon buckets off their hands that would otherwise be thrown away or recycled so that we can eventually upcycle them into our full-sized kits. Thus far we have diverted about 35-40 buckets that will be turned into vermicomposting bins. We also hope to source other waste materials for kits in the future, such as shredded paper/cardboard, coffee grounds or chaff from local coffee shops, or other materials that can be used in the creation of vermicomposting kits while also helping to reduce waste. Additionally, I hope in the future when we distribute full-sized kits, that we can calculate the reduced carbon emissions from our participants as well as our own carbon emissions in the sourcing and transport of products.”

VermiCUlture meeting

The group ran into a few challenges while getting this project started, which they hope to address in the future. Liberman explained, “The main challenge we ran into was obtaining worms. There are not many local worm options that have the scale of worms needed for our project (500-1000 worms are needed for one full-size bin). So we needed to ship from across the country to get these worms (we used a supplier in Georgia), which isn’t the most sustainable option. Even still, it is difficult to get a large amount of worms at once. One of our new goals is to create a local worm option by creating a small-scale worm farm in the area. This new project is still very much in the planning phase and we are unsure of how it will work exactly but we are hopeful to get it started this fall semester and make vermicomposting more available to community members. Other challenges we ran into stemmed from all of our members also being full-time students. We quickly realized that the work we needed to do to make the project a success was the kind of work someone would do for a full-time job! To help alleviate this issue, we are planning to restructure the organization and make more leadership positions so that the work is distributed in a way that full-time students can manage.”

Executive board members have met over the summer for planning purposes. With the fall semester approaching, vermiCUlture has also obtained a $10,000 grant from the University’s Student Sustainability Committee (SSC). The SSC is comprised of undergraduate and graduate students who, with the guidance of faculty and staff, allocate $1.1 million for campus sustainability project annually from two student initiated fees–the Cleaner Energy Technologies Fee and the Sustainable Campus Environment Fee. The grant will help vermiCUlture meet their original goals, address the challenges identified above, and overall expand the process of vermicomposting in the Champaign-Urbana area.

vermiculture kit preparation

While Madalyn Liberman is now off to grad-school (congratulations!) and thus, will not be involved in continued efforts in the fall semester, anyone interested in learning more or replicating this project in their own community can contact vermiCUlture President, Stuart Seputro. Also, be sure to check out their website, https://www.vermiculture.eco, and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn to monitor their progress.

 

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UIUC Research Shows Smaller Plates Reduce Food Waste in Dining Halls

UI dining hall

Research conducted by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign scientists from two departments within the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACES) demonstrates that the simple act of changing plate size and shape can have a significant impact on food waste in university dining halls.

In an article published in May 2021 in the journal Resources, Conservation & Recycling, authors Rachel Richardson [former graduate student in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACE)], Melissa Pflugh Prescott (assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition), and Brenna Ellison (associate professor in the associate professor in ACE) describe data collected at two dining halls on the Illinois campus in the Fall of 2018. The researchers and dining hall staff monitored and limited the dishware available for patron use.  The only intervention in this study was a change in plate size and shape. Traditionally, the university dining facilities used round plates (9″x9”). In this study, the round plates were replaced with oval platters (9.75″x7.75″), decreasing the plate’s surface area by 6.76%. Both the round and oval plates were tested at each dining hall, and the menu offered was the same for both plate types.

After diners selected their food, but before they sat down at a table, researchers approached them and asked permission to take a picture of their plates and to weigh the plate of food. Participation was incentivized with an entry in a later drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card. Participating diners additionally filled out a survey, and when their plates were brought to the dish return, the researchers took a post-consumption picture and weight measurement. The survey included a question about whether diners went back for seconds; in that circumstance, a post-consumption weight was not recorded.

A total of 1825 observations were collected with 1285 observations retained for analysis. Observations were excluded if the participant: only selected food using non-standard dishware (e.g., only eating a bowl of soup); submitted an incomplete survey; was missing a pre- or post-consumption photo; did not return their plate; or returned plates with different food on them than selected.

Overall, food waste went down from 15.8% of food selected for round plates to 11.8% for oval plates. This amounts to nearly 20 grams (0.7 oz) less food waste per plate. In a setting where thousands of meals are served, this seemingly small reduction could quickly add up. The researchers concluded that changing plate type is a viable strategy to reduce food waste, though dining hall managers need to weigh the cost of purchasing new plates against the potential savings. They speculate that combining the direct-nudge approach of smaller plates with an education campaign could be even more effective.

Read the full article at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105293.

Learn more

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Northwestern University Donates Unclaimed Meals as Students Self-Quarantine

The global COVID-19 pandemic has created disruptions to our food supply chain that resulted in instances of increased food waste, all during a time when many people are struggling with unemployment, medical bills and other unforeseen costs that could exacerbate food insecurity–a lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods.

So case studies of the recovery of unused food being diverted to feed hungry people are even more welcome and inspiring now, though they’re always reason for celebration, of course. One such example involves Northwestern University and the Compass Group, which is the company in charge of food preparation for Northwestern dining halls.

As reported for “Northwestern Now” on January 15, 2021 by Stephen Lewis:

‘During Northwestern’s Wildcat Wellness period, students were required to self-quarantine in their residence hall rooms. During this time, 2,400 residential students — with a meal plan — were delivered lunch and dinner; that;’ approximately 66,000 delivered meals over two weeks. But unlike ordering take-out from your favorite neighborhood restaurant, hundreds of these boxed, hot meals were left unclaimed and untouched.

“Over five hundred meals were returned, and we knew that if this was going to continue, this would be a really big problem. So, I put a call out to a bunch of non-profits around the city and people came together to start a massive food recovery effort,” said Sarah Levesque, the Sustainability Director for Compass Group, the company in charge of preparing meals for Northwestern dining halls.

Sixty non-profit organizations quickly responded to the urgent call. During the two-week Wildcat Wellness period, twice a day, dozens of volunteers collected the uneaten meals to deliver to those in need. Give-N-Kind, a non-profit started by Northwestern alumnus, Emily Petway (’02) helped coordinate the effort to recover meals that were not distributed…

Nearly 10,000 meals are expected to be donated by the time the Wildcat Wellness period ends on Jan. 17. Once normal meal services resume in dining halls across campus, unused food will still not go to waste. Campus Kitchen, the student-led volunteer organization, is currently on pause while students are self-quarantining. When quarantine is over, the organization will continue to collect excess food to package and deliver to low-income Evanston residents for free.’

Way to go, Wildcats!

Read the full story here.

Learn More

Food Waste and Covid-19: Impacts along the Supply Chain

GiveNKind

Fight2Feed

Campus Kitchen at Northwestern University

Northwestern releases comprehensive integrated solid waste management plan

Northwestern Dining (in particular, see the “Wellness and Sustainability” section of the web site)

 

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UW-Green Bay Uses Campus Composter to Divert Food Waste from Landfill

As reported by WBAY.com, an Earth Flow composting system, which has been use on the University of Wisconsin Green Bay (UW-Green Bay) campus since October 2020, has thus far helped the university divert about 15,000 pounds of food waste from the landfill. The student government bought the composter using money from the campus sustainability fund.

Read the full story and watch the video at https://www.wbay.com/2020/11/27/uw-green-bay-new-campus-composter-diverts-thousands-of-pounds-of-food-waste-from-landfills/,

According to the report, food scraps are collected in five-gallon buckets from the campus foodservice operations. Studen workers add the scraps to the composter, along with two buckets of wood chips for each bucket of food scraps. The wood chips are sourced from local tree-trimming operations. When completed the compost is used in various campus gardens, and may ultimately be made available to the public.

Learn more about Earth Flow Composting Systems at https://compostingtechnology.com/in-vessel-composting-systems/earth-flow-custom-vessel/.

View photos of the composting system installation at Inside UW-Green Bay News: https://news.uwgb.edu/featured/go-green/10/06/photos-earth-flow-composter-installed/.

Note that links to products or services are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement by the author, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, the Prairie Research Institute, or the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

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Universities Create Biodiesel from Waste Cooking Oil

A recent update from Engineers for a Sustainable World on student projects from 2018 included a note on the University of British Columbia Campus Biodiesel project. See https://www.eswglobal.org/database. According to that synopsis, “The campus biodiesel project seeks to produce biodiesel from waste cooking oil produced on UBC campus. Cooking oil can be collected from the dining halls of first year residence, in partnership with UBC food services. ESW has access to use a reactor system in the Chemical and Biological Engineering building with the capacity to produce 60 L batches. There is also a fuel dispensing system in the equipment yard of the building. The goal of the project is to produce batches of biodiesel with reliable quality to be used by diesel powered vehicles in fleet services.”

More information on the UBC campus biodiesel production project can be found on the Engineers for a Sustainable World UBC web site at http://blogs.ubc.ca/sustainabilityclub/biodiesel-project/.

This project is similar to the Illinois Biodiesel Initiative (IBI), which evolved from an Engineers Without Borders project on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. See https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project/illinois-biodiesel-initiative-ibi and http://biodiesel.illinois.edu/ for further information on that project.

Similar projects have also been coordinated with high school students converting waste cooking oil from K-12 school food service operations for use in district school buses. See the archived suggested activity “Divert or create biodiesel from waste cooking oil” document from the original Green Lunchroom Challenge K-12 pledge program for more information and inspiration for incorporating such an activity, or information about it, into K-12 lesson plans.

Has your college, university, or high school/school district diverted used cooking oil to fuel in a similar fashion? Consider sharing a link to a site describing your efforts or a brief description of your project in the comments section of this post.