American University
Residence Hall Association
c/o Housing & Dining Programs | 4400 Massachusetts Ave, NW | Washington, DC 20016-8142
Phone: 202-885-1RHA | FAX: 202-885-1154 | E-mail: info@aurha.org | www.aurha.org
Resolution 11-12-014
A Resolution to Promote Food Composting in the
Residence Halls
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Nihal Krishan, Green Eagle for Centennial Hall
Mary May Kozlik, Vice President of Advocacy for Centennial Hall
Whereas, there is a large amount of food waste being generated in Centennial Hall, and;
Whereas, this waste is being dumped into landfills, representing a lost opportunity for AU to
engage in sustainable practices, and;
Whereas, composting food waste as opposed to generating unnecessary waste would contribute
to American University’s goal of becoming a carbon-neutral campus by 2020, and;
Whereas, providing the option to compost food waste would in no way inconvenience students
living in Centennial Hall, and;
Whereas, American University already engages in the practice of composting elsewhere on
campus and has the resources available to do so, and;
Whereas, many university offices and facilities, including the Terrace Dining Room, regularly
utilize the resources that are present on campus; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that Housing & Dining Programs initiate a pilot composting program in Centennial
Hall; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED that this pilot program include the placement of a compost bin in
addition to the pre-existing trash can in each kitchen within Centennial Hall; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED that the Residence Hall Association and members of Housing & Dining
Programs collaborate with the Green Eagles of the Office of Sustainability to educate residents in
the practice of composting, including but not limited to the reasons for composting and the best
way to do so.
Page 1 of 3
BY A VOTE OF ________ TO ________ TO ________ WITH ________ VOTES PRESENT
ON THIS DAY ____________________________________
___________________________________
Cindy Zhang
President, Residence Hall Association
Appendix
1. Recycling and Composting trash bags are picked up daily on each floor of each dorm by
Aramark workers and taken down to the bins of our trash centers at each residence hall.
From these trash centers on the ground level, compostable and recyclable trash are picked
up from the bins by a facilities truck and taken to our waste collection site at the back of
MGC. From MGC, all waste (recyclable and compostable) is taken to a Composting
Facility or a MRF (Materials Recycling Facility). At the Composting facility or MRF
these materials are sorted, grouped and transported again for reprocessing into usable
products.
2. The compost bin we would be ordering would most likely be a 13 gallon SimpleHuman
step can (the library already uses this type of bin for its composting program) that costs
approximately $50 individually but may have a lower cost if bought in bulk. For the
current Composting Pilot program planned for Centennial Hall, we would need 6 such
composting bins and then more in the future for other residence halls if the pilot program
is successful.
3. Health/Environmental Concerns:
• Food scraps are not a new and scary health issue. They are already in our trash and
they are subject to the same health regulations as trash. Participants in the Food
Composting program use standardized carts from Aramark for collection – just like
other regular trash services. By promptly removing trash, food scraps, and recycling
outside food preparation areas each day, we will be able to comply with the Campus
Health Codes/Regulations. Therefore we are proposing to replace the food compost
liners on a daily basis and send the food to be composted to the TDR facilities on a
daily basis to avoid possible health problems like rat or vermin infestations.
Collecting the food compost daily is twice or thrice as often as the required standard
for paper towel collection that our campus currently utilizes. This will further reduce
risks associated with trash collection from “vectors,” such as rats.
• Along with the many other universities that have begun composting programs, in
California food composting is gaining much traction. Read excerpts from the
Page 2 of 3
•
•
California Restaurant Code that apply to food composting handling and storage. The
Foodscraps Composting Program is approved and encouraged by Environmental
Health Services (EHS) as well. http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/RecyclingTrash/businesses_food.htm#health. Additionally a closed container/bin (details given
in #2) will eliminate further issues with rats and any possible smell issues that we
may face with our food composting bins.
Pilot Program: The project's objective is to improve and better American University's
recycling program on campus by introducing and providing food compost bins for my
residential hall (Centennial Hall) and perhaps other residential halls later on
depending on the success of this project. The plan is to provide special compost bins
specifically for just composting food on each of the 6 floors of Centennial in or
around the kitchens. We will also be trying to educate students to use the compost
bins and to organize/throw out their food related trash in a different way when the
compost bins are in place. Thus, since it is a Pilot program, many possible issues and
problems that we may face (hopefully there will be few) will be realized and
addressed before the plan is implemented campus-wide.
We hope to work closely with RHA and Centennial Hall Council for this pilot
program, and other Hall Councils going forward as we expand the composting
program on campus.
Page 3 of 3