Composting, a more sustainable system of dealing with food waste, will recycle nutrients back to the earth and educate those eating in the dining halls. Compost will be exchanged for locally grown veggies to serve in dining halls, thus decreasing the distance our food travels from soil to plate.

Composting (from the Latin word compostium) means to bring together, and although the idea of composting is not a new one, we feel our full-circle approach towards our food supply is truly original for an institution of our size. Not only does this initiative provide a more sustainable method of dealing with food waste, but it provides a holistic connection with food in our community. Because our project requires student participation, education about sustainable consumption will be necessary for success.

This includes educating students on campus, faculty, staff, and youth in the greater New London community about practices such as composting and eating locally grown foods. No other school’s administration is more optimistic, no other school’s student body is more prepared, and no other community needs this connection to the school more than ours.

FOOD WASTE

This project directly addresses the problem of food waste, energy consumption, and health. The food waste problem on campus will be tackled by implementing a composting system that will immediately reduce the amount of food waste exported from the school by 8%. Composting will also reduce the amount of energy needed to transport food waste since it will be staying on campus instead of going to a different town. The project will also bring in more local foods, which will reduce the distance our food has to travel (and thus uses unnecessary energy) to arrive at Connecticut College. Also, any energy used by the Earth Tubs will be offset by solar power. Finally, health issues will be addressed. By having organic, local produce in our dining halls, pollution from fuel usage will be reduced and the food students will eat will be pesticide and hormone free. Through education, these practices will be passed on to the community and reduce food waste, energy consumption, and health problems on a greater scale. These are environmentally and economically sound practices.

ECONOMICS

With an 8% reduction in food waste per 24-week school year, we would save almost 35,000lbs. Currently, a pig farmer charges $425/month ($5,100/year) to pick up our food waste. If he were to reduce his charge by 8% (matching our reduction in waste) we would save our school approximately $400 per year.

The current system is economically inefficient. This pilot project will, if successful, create interest in spreading the project to the rest of the dining halls on campus. As of now, it would only happen in 2 dining halls. If this spreads we would save thousands of dollars a year and be able to support the local economy and community in a much greater way. The compost produced will go to the on-campus garden, FRESH New London and other local farms that would, in return, provide local produce to the school. In this way the nutrients would come full circle.