Composting Crew

In a recent survey 100% of UW—L students indicated they would like the school to reduce its waste. Well, thanks to the Composting Crew, these students’ demands will be met.
The Composting Crew is a group of students who pick up extra food from Chartwell’s kitchens and drop it off at the composting site, which is located by the baseball fields, according to Liana Skibbie, member of the Composting Crew and Environmental Council. At the site the leftover food is layered with horse manure in a composting bin.
According to Jessica Kotnour, member of the Composting Crew, food waste makes up 17% of landfills. This project aims to decrease that which, “is very in tune with the student’s mentality” at UW—L, Kotnour said.
Once the decomposition process is complete, the compost will be used as fertilizer for campus landscaping and this will also save money, according to Skibbie. “When the decomposition is controlled, the nutrients in the food waste can be recycled and used as an environmentally friendly fertilizer,” Kotnour said.
Kotnour explained that if all materials that could be used in compost were composted (including paper, cardboard and food waste), it would decrease waste bye 30 to 40 percent because these materials are biodegradable but cannot biodegrade in landfills because there is not enough oxygen.
According to the Compositing Crew’s website, in the past, the crew only took leftover food that had not been used by students, also known as pre-consumer food waste. This usually included leftover fruits and vegetables. But, this semester the crew started using post-consumer foods, meaning items that students have partially eaten. Because of this students will be asked to do their part by putting leftover food that can be used for the compost in a separate bin after eating.
The program will be looking for more volunteers to help with the project. Jobs include monitoring the compost bins to make sure students are putting the right materials into each bin and turning the compost pile to increase air circulation. Kotnour said students who are interested in helping should contact her for more information.
Another way to get involved is to attend Environmental Council, Skibbie said. The council meets every Thursday at 4:15 in 259 Cartwright.

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