Posted on Monday, January 29, 2007
The following news was written by Clarence Harms, Director of the ¾¨Ó㴫ý Field Station.
According to the Chinese calendar, 2006 was the Red Dog Year. That year will end on February 17 by our calendar. People born in the Year of the Dog are said to possess the best traits of human nature. They have a deep sense of loyalty, are honest, and inspire other people's confidence. At the Field Station, 2006 (that began January 1 and ended December 31) was the year of "Dogged Compostomania," the first full calendar year of intensive -- almost manic -- composting! That intensive effort by the college and community was jump-started with a $90 thousand grant in July 2005 and continues at the Field Station as a way of recycling organics that are often discarded or placed into landfills. To spin off of the Year of the Dog, recycling is one of the "best traits of human nature" and is done with a "deep sense of loyalty" . . . to the earth and to environmental quality.
Compostomania for the 12 months of 2006 captured 226 tons of compostable organics! That averaged nearly 19 tons per month. Of that total, after microorganisms have done their job, more than 110 tons of good, usable soil will be returned to the earth, at least double the amount anticipated when the project was started! This should "inspire confidence" in our small college and community. Sadly, not all members of our groups have caught the spirit of compostomania; they have not yet been inspired!
Just think of the potential for good that exists locally. Then extrapolate that to larger universities, communities and cities. Maybe that will happen in 2007, the Year of the Pig. Pigs are known to have ravenous appetites for compostable organics!
Here are the detailed numbers for 2006 at the Field Station:
¾¨Ó㴫ý's food waste from campus dining 6.7 tons
¾¨Ó㴫ý's animal cages in biology and psychology 2.3 tons
College's shredded paper 0.9 ton
Harvested pondweed from Brittain Lake on the campus 31.3 tons
Chipped Christmas trees and branches at the Field Station 6.4 tons
Community yard waste and leaves from New Wilmington Borough 80 tons
Community food waste 1 ton
Community shredded paper 0.5 ton
Manure from Little Neshannock Stables 96.6 tons
Miscellaneous compostables 0.4 ton
There is a recipe for good composting! Like baking a cake, composting requires knowing the ingredients, chemicals that make up of the feedstocks (those organics placed into compost rows). Some feedstocks are high in nitrogen (like food waste, pondweed and manure) others are high in carbon (like leaves, wood chips and shredded paper). Equal amounts of "greens" (high in nitrogen) and "browns" (high in carbon) make the best mix. And rows of this "mixed solid waste" must be regularly stirred for aeration and mixing of nutrients. If the microorganisms growing in the mix do not have enough oxygen, they produce acids to lower the pH (and result in odor). Good compost smells pleasant, has a neutral pH and some, but not too much, nitrogen. Other minerals (potassium from ash and calcium from bones and egg shells) also come into the picture. The organic (carbon-based) "fiber" gives humus that allows proper aeration. The resulting compost, after only four to five months of incubation, has a proper texture and composition to provide nourishment for plants.
Compost generated at the Field Station is used on site for planting/top-dressing trees and will be available, this coming spring, for top-dressing trees on the main campus. Small amounts are given away to those in our community who bring a bag or garbage can. No charge.
Composting doesn't just happen. It is labor intensive and a year-round operation. Even in freezing weather microorganisms -- the key players in composting -- generate heat and continue their relentless work of digesting organics. Hand sorting of food waste takes place outdoors in good weather and indoors in foul weather -- but it goes on 12 months a year. Occasionally there are volunteers to help.
¾¨Ó㴫ý students and faculty are regularly prodded to live green. In November a collection bin was placed in the trash/recycling enclosure for the Berlin Village townhouses. Students there, who usually do their own cooking, are encouraged to bag kitchen waste and walk 100 feet to deposit their organics in the bin. Offices in several departments collect coffee grounds and shredded paper and bring them to a collection site. Animal cage bedding from the Departments of Biology and Psychology has been composted for more than 20 years. The public information office that subscribes to many newspapers for PR clipping shreds the old newspapers for weekly pickup and composting. A class in the Education Department, committed to a worthwhile project, collects and shreds programs from the Celebrity Series. Individuals and businesses of the community regularly "contribute" their bagged food waste, shredded paper and leaves. One local church shreds the Sunday worship bulletins to be reincarnated! There are two events at the Field Station, called Chipping Parties, when college and community get together to turn Christmas trees and tree branches into wood chips for composting. Where there is a will, there is a way!
Composting has a positive economic side. A typical cost of disposing municipal solid waste in a landfill is $78 per ton. You do the math.
This is a call to the yet unmotivated citizens of ¾¨Ó㴫ý and the community. Remember that our earth's resources are limited. Think before you trash the apple core or tea bag. Stop before you burn the autumn leaves. With a little effort all such compostables can be rescued. If backyard/home composting is not feasible, remember that there are bins for community compostables at the Field Station on the Fayette-New Wilmington Road. There is no charge for drop-offs but we can accept designated contributions through ¾¨Ó㴫ý's office of development!
With commitment, passion and compostomania the numbers for the Year of the Pig, 2007 ahead of us, can reflect an upward trend in local composting and a continued commitment to green living.
