Campus-wide efforts on campus have historically aimed to turn campus waste into community compost. However, even with a current pause in operations, their sustainability remains a priority on campus.
General Manager of Dining Services Levi Briggs is a big advocate for composting on campus.
“When I arrived in 2019, composting efforts were non-existent,” Briggs explained. “In 2020, I was able to clean up the pole barn area where the composters are located, and we resumed composting. I believe in 2021 Professor (Chekka) Lash came back to campus, and we teamed up to share in the efforts to keep composting going.”
Local Cabinet Shop Elegant Woodworks provides the campus with sawdust to use as brown carbon material to use and distribute to the community.
“Finished compost has been used on campus, but the community also comes to pick some up as well,” explained Briggs. “We work with local vendors as much as possible, such as the Homestead Creamery, KC Farms, Roanoke Produce, B-Hive Honey, Deep Roots Milling, and The Bagel and I. We have tracked what we waste alone, and not all of it gets composted.”
According to Lash, composting has been a part of campus life for years.
‘The composters have been on campus for many years,” she said. “I cannot find exact dates, but I think they were installed around 2011. They are Green Mountain Earth Tubs. They are antiquated and difficult to manage due to their age, but they still work. We currently have stepped back on our composting efforts, but we definitely want to get it going again.”
Both Briggs and environmental students contribute to the composting on campus, and the composting process is a lengthy one.
“We have two composters in the pole barn,” offered Lash. “The pole barn is located below Clark and Dyer kind of beside the BRIM. All you have to do is balance the green (food waste) to brown (Sawdust) ratio and add oxygen by turning the composters and let the microbes do to their work. They’ll decompose the matter and turn it into beautiful compost. If not enough oxygen is incorporated, things get stinky.”
However, composting is not the only act of sustainability that students can engage in on campus.
“Walk more, drive less,” suggested Lash. “Turn your lights and TV off when you leave the room. Eat more veggies. Spend time outside. Drink water from refillable bottles–stop buying plastic disposable bottles–it’s so wasteful!
Lash also recommended reusing items before buying new versions.
“Say no to plastic bags and bring your own bag or just carry your items.,” she said. “Get educated on environmental topics. Take ESC 102 Intro to Envi Sci or ENS 115 Green Team or ESC 241 Humans Within Ecosystems. These classes are open to anyone.”
Briggs aims to maintain the efforts of Metz Dining Services in Franklin Hall.
“We can always improve on sustainability,” he said. “I can only speak to what the dining services are doing. We compost pre-consumer vegetables, egg shells, and coffee grounds. We have also transitioned away from foam to 90% compostable disposable products, recycle fryer oil, and track pre- and post-consumer waste.”
Lash hopes to start composting on campus again soon, advocating for sustainability efforts along the way.
