Topic: Composting in the Residence Halls

Name: Alia McAdams

Department: University Housing - Sustainability

Description of Issue:

The University of South Carolina has a set goal to become a Zero Waste Campus

by the year 2050 (Bounds, 2015). Zero Waste means, designing and managing products

and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and

materials, conserve and recover all resources (Liss, 2009). Overall the goal is to create

enough recycling initiatives to counterbalance the amount of waste produced on the

University of South Carolinas campus. As of now campus recycling initiatives only

account for 17% of total campus waste being recycled each year. The goal is to have a

recycling rate of 50% by 2025 which gives the university 9 years to increase the rate by

33%. In order to approach the campus goal changes will need to be made, and a

reasonable place to start is with composting food waste.

History and Causes of Issue:

The average American has a carbon footprint of 20 metric tons. This being said, if

everyone in the world were to have a footprint of this size, we would need 4 earths in

order to support these habits (Bounds, 2015). With 2,968 4-year universities in America

as of 2012 (U.S. Department of Education, 2015) American Universities are responsible

for contributing to the increase in sustainable practices in order to help sustain the planet

for future generations. By reducing the amount of waste thrown into landfills humans

have the ability to reduce the amount of methane gas and leachate released into the

environment. This helps slow the negative effects of climate change.

 Composting is a beneficial way to recycle food waste into compost to help with

plant growth. It helps reduce the amount of money spent on soil purchases which are

often used for campus landscaping and gardening. It also benefits campuses by reducing

the amount of money spent on transportation of waste, whereas with community compost

no money would be spent on the transportation of food waste.

Current Status and Impact:

Composting is becoming a trend on campuses across the nation. Universities are

reducing their waste by implementing composting practices in their Residence Halls,

Dining Halls, Greek Housing, and even throughout Academic Buildings on campus. Ohio

University recently invested in an in-vessel composting system which has the capability

of processing up to 28 tons of organic food waste (McClure, 2016). The University of

Washington has also made strides towards composting, reducing their carbon footprint

substantially by reducing landfill contamination and methane production percentages

(McClure, 2016).

The University of South Carolina (USC) could benefit from following in these

other universities footsteps. Recently the University received the Silver rating from the

Association of Advancement in Sustainable Higher Educations (AASHE) Sustainability

Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS). While the university scored well in

the academics and engagement pieces, the scores left plenty of room for

improvement when it comes to operations, planning and administrations, and

innovation, the university has plenty of room for improvement. Specifically under the

operations category USC scored 4.28 out of 10 on the waste subcategory. This poor
outcome emphasizes the importance of establishing a composting program on campus.

As president Harris Pastides wrote in a letter to the AASHE STARS committee earlier

this year, While we have come a long way in addressing campus sustainability, there is

much more that we can do.

Potential Solution: Composting in the Residence Halls

One potential solution to the lack of composting on campus would be composting

in the Residence Halls. Many of the residence hall, such as Honors, South Quad,

and Green Quad, have student accessible kitchens in which student produce

considerable amounts of food waste each week.

Resources Needed: For the early stages each apartment style kitchen could be

given a mini 2.4 gallon composting bin that could be emptied every two weeks or

as it fills up. These bins cost about $16 individually, but could be found for a

cheaper price when ordered in bulk. Community kitchens, such as the ones in the

Honors Residence Hall could be supplied with 60 gallon compost tumblers which

cost about $150 individually, but could also be found at cheaper prices when

purchased in bulk orders.

A student organization could be formed through the Office of Sustainability and

given the task of picking up these containers along with the trash and the

recycling and bringing it to large Bosmere Wire Composting Bin. These bins can

hold about 225 gallons of compost and only cost about $50. These composting

bins must be used outside and can be placed in the area behind the Green House at

Green Quad.
There are approximately 25 residence halls on campus. Overall the costs to supply

the composters plus the would be about $2,500 including the Bosmere Wire

Composting Bins. The student groups responsibilities could be being placed in

charge of emptying and cleaning the composting bins along with educating

students in the residence halls how to properly utilize the bins. As the program

just begins, the EcoReps program could be charged with creating and running this

student group, seeing as this organization already has a passion for sustainability

and works with the residence halls on campus.

Pros: If students were given the resources to compost their food waste they would

be able to learn sustainable practices and reduce their amount of waste. Taking the

first step towards adding composting practices to the USC campus through the

residence halls would help increase the AASHE STARS score for next year and

help the University come closer to reaching its Zero Waste goals.

Cons: Unfortunately change costs money. The initial purchasing of the bins along

with the time spent on marketing and teaching both staff and students instructions

on how to use the composters would take some time and money. This money

would have to come from another place in the budget. Fortunately with

approximately 8,000-9,000 students living on campus, we could charge each

student $1 extra for their housing fees, therefore creating a large budget for

composting practices.
 Works Cited

Bounds. M. (2015). Sustainable living on campus: Environmental awareness and energy

conservation [PowerPoint slides].

Liss, G.(2009). ZW definition. Zero Waste. International Alliance.

McClure, A. (2016). Composting on campus. University Business.

Pastides, Harris. Letter to AASHE STARS Review Committee. Feb. 2016. MS.

Columbia, SC

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2015). Digest of

Education Statistics, 2013 (NCES 2015-011),Chapter 2.