Anna Thonis
November 12, 2013
Annotation #3
Composting is an immensely effective way to reduce the amount of waste that goes into
landfills because if the food waste is not composted, then it is simply shipped off to a landfill to rot in
the ground. The article “Campus Dining Reduces Waste with Composting Project” discusses how Grand
Valley State University in Michigan made composting a major success and now “pre-consumer waste
(from cooking and preparation) and post-consumer waste are both composted and diverted from
landfills.”1 The University took many steps to ensuring that the composting initiative would be
successful including hanging posters above receptacles in the dining halls, educating the dining hall staff,
and implementing “landfill,” “recycling,” and “composting” bins.2 Although all of these were large steps
that aided in the process, one of the University dining hall managers, Penny Ibarra, noted that “Changing
student habits is the hardest part of composting.”3 Despite the boundary of student understanding that
must be breached, implementing composting on college campuses is certainly not too daunting of a task
and it has major environmental benefits.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, “food is the number one
recycled material.”4 Composting is considered (by the EPA) the most efficient type of recycling because
it breaks down waste into the soil and so there are no chemicals or large amounts of power used. Along
with this, Grand Valley State University is nationally recognized as a leader in sustainability and “has
made a commitment to foster economic, social, and environmental sustainability both inside and
outside the classroom.”5 The article highlights some of the environmental benefits of composting,
including the (previously mentioned) fact that compost enriches soil, it helps prevent pollution, clean-up
1
Bowe, Brian J
Ibid
3
Ibid
4
Ibid
5
Ibid
2
contaminated soil, and besides environmental benefits, composting “is a low-cost alternative to
standard landfill cover and artificial soil amendments” and therefore it offers economic benefits, too.
Because of its strong composting program, Grand Valley State University received the highest green
rating in Michigan in an annual report by the Princeton Review. So far the program is working incredibly
well and Ibarra states that “A lot of students are already on board and hopefully more will participate
when they see how easy it is.”6
The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute motto “Why not change the world?” truly speaks to the
idea of being the most sustainable and green campus as possible. This article sheds a great deal of light
on some of the steps that must be taken in order to make composting at RPI feasible and successful.
More must be done than simply putting out new bins in the dining halls; students must be informed and
taught to understand the environmental and economic benefits that composting dining hall waste
boasts. Grand Valley State University is a perfect role model for what RPI should strive to be in terms of
a sustainable campus. Composting is not a complex idea, but it takes a great deal of work in order to
make it successful on a college campus. If RPI can successfully compost its waste from its dining halls
and use the compost as a fertilizer for green roofs and greenhouses, then RPI will effectively have a
circle of sustainability from the compost to the growing of new foods.
6
Bowe, Brian J
Bowe, Brian J. "Campus Dining Reduces Waste with Composting Project." - GVNow. Grand Valley State
University, 12 Jan. 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.