Report: Composting Could Create Two Times as Many Jobs as Landfilling

Read the full story at Environmental Leader.

Composting is a major job creator, according to a new report released by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) nonprofit think tank in Washington, DC, in conjunction with International Compost Awareness Week. The report, based on a survey of Maryland composters, claims that 1,400 new full-time jobs could be supported for every million tons of yard trimmings and food scraps converted into compost that is used locally.

In Maryland, compostable items such as food scraps, grass clippings, wood chips and the like equal to about 780,000 tons each year, according to Patch.com. Composting those items, per the Pay Dirt: Composting in Maryland to Reduce Waste, Create Jobs, & Protect the Bay [pdf] report, would create twice as many jobs as sending waste to landfill, and four times the number of jobs as burning garbage.

 

Food Scrap Pilot Program in Madison County

Via the Illinois Recycling Association’s Material Matters Newsletter.

Instead of throwing away their food scraps from breakfast and lunch, East Alton District #13 students are participating in a Food Scrap Pilot Program.  The food scraps are collected and composted to become food for plants. This Food Scrap Pilot Program is sponsored by the Madison County Green Schools Program and takes place in the East Alton Middle School, Eastwood Elementary School and Washington Early Childhood Center, all in East Alton, IL.

All three East Alton schools currently use single stream recycling.  For the pilot program, the students empty their food waste into a compostable bag that is the lining of a 65-gallon rolling tote.  The full totes are taken outside the buildings and picked up three times a week by Always Green Recycling (AGR).  AGR transports the totes to St. Louis Compost, Belleville, IL where the scraps become plant food (compost) in 180 days.

“We are very honored and excited to be selected for Madison County Food Scrap Pilot Program,” stated East Alton District #13 Superintendent, Mr. Virgil Moore.  “With the addition of food composting to our already established single-stream recycling program, the East Alton School District will come very close to achieving zero waste.  These programs allow our District to realize a significant reduction in operating costs while, at the same time, teaching our students to be responsible citizens.”

The program kicked-off on America Recycles Day.  After only one and one-half months into the program, over 6.48 tons of food waste has been diverted from the landfill.  The program is a partnership between the Madison County Green Schools Program, Madison County Health Department, Always Green Recycling and St. Louis Composting.

 

Compost Moves Up in NYC

Read the full story in the Wall Street Journal.

Half-eaten salads tossed out by Midtown office workers these days can end up being carted to an upstate compost farm and then returned to Midtown buildings for use as fertilizer on green rooftops.

With more green roofs sprouting up across New York’s skyline, the Durst Organization says it will spend between $750,000 and $1 million to install more than an acre of green space atop its Midtown Manhattan buildings.

 

Roundup of higher education sustainability in the Great Lakes Region

ASG’s Sustainability Committee offers free option to go green for off-campus students
Associated Student Government’s Sustainability Committee is offering free compact fluorescent light bulbs and water-efficient showerheads to all students living off campus.The committee launched a Facebook event this week advertising the initiative, which aims to unite Northwestern and Evanston in a push for greener living, said Mark Silberg, ASG’s associate vice president for Sustainability. He said 300 students have signed up to receive the packages so far and the first ones will be distributed this weekend in the ASG office.

Get Plugged in at Prairie State College
The Sustainability Center at Prairie State College (PSC) is excited to offer free charging to community members at the college’s newly installed Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations. The charging stations are part of the college’s strategic sustainability plan and are just one of the many initiatives PSC is implementing to green the campus and serve as a community demonstration site.

Aquinas College Zero Waste Initiative
As a part of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, Aquinas College committed to becoming a zero waste to landfill campus by 2020.  The Center for Sustainability and Students Striving for Sustainability (S3) are partnering to further Aquinas’ commitment to sustainability by moving forward the goal to achieve campus-wide zero municipal solid waste by 2014.  A Zero Waste Team is in place to assist in educational programs concerning Aquinas’ waste streams.  With collaboration of faculty, staff, and students, Aquinas will incrementally reduce our waste by 25% each semester for the next two years, by expanding campus composting and recycling efforts.

Volunteers sort compost for windrows at SAP
Grand Valley State University has begun separating its compostable waste to create windrows at the Sustainable Agriculture Project farm just outside Allendale campus and mulch for on-campus landscaping.

Columbia College Chicago Expands Compost Program
Columbia College Chicago was recently awarded a grant by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to implement a more comprehensive composting program across campus. This $5,000 grant will allow the college to reach more of the campus with the goal to divert 13 tons of food scrap waste from landfills in 2012-2013, almost double the 2011-2012 school year’s achievement of seven tons.

U Dayton Creates Exhibit to Teach Students About Water Resources
A new mobile learning studio developed by University of Dayton students puts the region’s five rivers on 18 wheels. The RiverMobile is a traveling exhibit converted from a semi-trailer that highlights the history, benefits and preservation of the Great Miami River watershed. It is the creation of students in the University’s Rivers Institute with generous support from local donors. The RiverMobile’s mission is threefold: to develop pride for the region, to provide knowledge about Dayton’s river system and water resources and to develop personal responsibility for the protection of local water resources and the environment.

 

Higher education sustainability news roundup

Rensselaer Launches New Degree Program in Sustainability Studies
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is launching a new undergraduate major in sustainability studies through the School of Humanities Arts, and Social Sciences. The new major, which results in a B.S. in Science and Technology Studies – Sustainability Studies, is an option that crosses disciplinary boundaries by design at the nation’s oldest technological university.

Student Eco-Reps Teach Peers about Sustainable Living
More than 20 ESF students took a trip to the Central New York Regional Market as part of a new Eco-Representative Program that uses peer-to-peer interaction to educate students about sustainability. Called Eco-Reps for short, the program focuses on raising awareness about sustainability issues among students who live in Centennial Hall, ESF’s first residence hall, and educating them about sustainable practices. Nine students who live in the building were selected after an application process to be the Eco-Reps who help educate their peers.

Northwestern students push plastic water bottle ban
Students covered The Rock in plastic water bottles Friday to launch a campaign to ban their sale on Northwestern’s campus. Headed by Pura Playa, a plastic reduction team within Engineers for a Sustainable World, the initiative involves petitioning the student body and spreading an educational message about the harmful effects of plastic on the environment.

New sustainability office grand opening scheduled for Nov. 8 at Western Michigan University
After months of renovations, the Western Michigan University’s Office for Sustainability is unveiling its new home on the corner of Howard Street and West Michigan Avenue.

Eastern students, faculty produce biomass, biodiesel
Eastern’s biological sciences department is collaborating with the efforts of the Renewable Energy Center to promote a greener future for the university.

Colleges turn garbage into ‘really good dirt’
Four local colleges and universities — Medical University of South Carolina, College of Charleston, Trident Technical College and The Citadel — have contracted with Koeckeritz’s Food Waste Disposal to recycle their food waste, said Christine Cooley, MUSC’s sustainability manager. Working together, she said, the colleges likely will save money and help support a program that is good for the environment and saves space in the landfill.

Empowerhouse — Opening Soon!
It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than a year since Empowerhouse was in the Solar Decathlon (where it won the competition’s first Affordability contest). Now, after several years of hard work by the Empowerhouse team and our partners, this project will become a real home for two local families in the D.C. neighborhood of Deanwood, and the District’s first passive house (meeting today’s highest energy standards). At a ribbon-cutting ceremony on December 4, the project partners will gather one final time to celebrate with the community, and welcome two lucky homeowners to their new homes.

 

Why companies need composting to meet zero waste goals

Read the full post at GreenBiz.

Your organization’s best attempts to reduce the amount of food and organic waste it sends to landfill will fall short without proper employee training and highly visual educational signage, according to a panel of organics waste experts.

“This requires training and rethinking, starting in the back hallway,” said Scott Maurer, executive sous chef for Peabody Hotels, which initiated its composting program last summer in part because more event planners were requesting it.

 

‘The Rot Riders’ Bike for Compost

Read the full story at GOOD.

On Sunday afternoons, a handful of trailer-towing bike riders pedal through the neighborhoods of Kirksville, Missouri, stopping at select lawns and porches to collect buckets brimming with food waste. The unwanted contents are raw material for compost piles, which any green thumb in the community can use to nourish her garden. The environmentally-minded two-wheeler crew called “The Rot Riders” has made weekly rounds since spring 2010, collecting from more than 40 houses and apartments within striking distance of downtown Kirksville. The number of food waste donors is growing fast, and the program is earning more recognition — it finished as the runner-up in GOOD Maker’s recent GOOD Citizenship challenge.

 

Curbside Composting Added to a Major City: Is It Yours?

Read the full story in Governing.

Nearly 100 cities now divert food waste from landfills. It’s far from becoming the norm, though, considering most major cities still don’t even have curbside recycling.

 

 

Closed-loop compost system begins operation Friday, Nov. 18 at University of Missouri-Columbia

Read the full story from the University of Missouri-Columbia (dated November 18).

Today’s linguini will start growing tomorrow’s tomatoes this Friday as the Bradford Research Center’s new compost facility receives its first truck load of food waste from the University of Missouri. The ribbon-cutting event is set for 2:30 p.m. and is open to the public.

The College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources project, known as the “Zero Carbon Footprint Vegetable and Compost Production System” is the first of its kind nationwide, and one that Bradford’s Superintendent Tim Reinbott has been turning over in his mind for the last several years.

 

Food Waste Composting at Yosemite National Park

Read the full story in Waste Age.

By fully embracing food waste composting, Yosemite National Park has achieved impressive diversion numbers and slashed waste disposal costs.