Grace Pugh, co-president of the club, said AU had previously lost its composting contract in November 2014 due to high contamination levels, especially in residence halls. This means too many non-compostable items were thrown into the compost bins.
The University renewed its contract with the Prince George’s County composting facility in Maryland in February 2016 on the condition that AU’s waste be perfectly sorted. Since then, Zero Waste Club leaders have worked with Tyler Orton, Zero Waste facilities manager, to make the compost process more approachable for students.
“We developed a program where compost could be accessible and convenient for students because convenience is so essential to proper waste management,” Pugh said. “If it’s convenient for someone to sort waste properly, they most likely will.”
The Zero Waste Club gave out free individual compost bins for the residence halls at the start of the fall 2017 semester, which included a brochure on best composting practices. Zero Waste has placed one large compost bin in each residence hall, separated from the regular trash areas.
“People who are likely to be using the bin are those who know about the program, and if we keep our contamination levels low, we will be able to put more bins in the residence halls,” Pugh said. “It’s kind of baby steps right now but people seem to be really receptive to the program.”
The Zero Waste Club plans to expand the program by giving out more personal bins and eventually adding larger bins once awareness and education about the program spreads. Students can request a bin through the group’s Facebook page or via email.
In addition, Zero Waste Club is going to provide storage for the personal bins over the summer, and those who already had bins will have priority in picking them up at the start of the year. Those students who live off campus have the option to take bins with them as long as they bring the compost back to campus.
“We want for the compost bins to travel with people as they’re going through life at AU,” Pugh said.
To read the full story, visit http://www.theeagleonline.com/article/2017/11/zero-waste-new-composting.