Composting Project

Green Grant
Campus Committee for Environmental Responsibility
Submitted by: Adrienne Watts, Ben Volin-Kelder and Olivia Walker
Submitted on: November 26, 2013

Table of Contents
Executive Summary..Page 1
Statement of Need...Page 2
Goals and ObjectivesPage 3
Benefits.Page 4
Implementation..Page 5
Evaluation...Page 6
BudgetPage 7-8
Appendix A: How Composting Works..Page 9
Appendix B: Projects at other UniversitiesPage 10

November 25, 2013

Dr. Lauren Eastwood
Department of Sociology
SUNY Plattsburgh
101 Broad Street
Plattsburgh, NY 12901

Dear Dr. Eastwood,

Thank you for coming in and speaking to us about the opportunities the green grant can provide. After
learning about how it can be utilized we started thinking of ideas on how to make SUNY Plattsburgh a
greener campus. Composting is an easy and cost-efficient way to make our campus more sustainable.
Many other universities have started composting projects and have found them to be very successful.
We are asking for $1,975.00 to start this project here at SUNY Plattsburgh. This money will be going
towards the tools and supplies needed to make this project successful. We are also asking for money to
pay two students a semester to maintain the compost area as well as collect it from all the composting
locations on campus. The students who have already started this project have requested a salary since
they spend a lot of time on this project. Chartwells and professors support this project. Chartwells will
work with us to separate pre-consumer food waste and just waste to go to landfills.
SUNY Plattsburgh needs to start becoming greener as this is something we lack in the SUNY system and
among other universities. Composting is a project that has potential and could reduce the amount of
waste we produce immensely.
Our goal is to expand the project already started by Fall 2014. We would like to include the other two
dining halls and make the composting pile larger. We would also like to add two educational practicums
to help maintain the project and educate faculty, students and the Plattsburgh community about the
composting project.
We look forward to working with you further and getting your feedback on this project.
Best Regards,

Adrienne Watts

Ben Volin-Kelder

Olivia Walker

SUNY Plattsburgh Students

Executive Summary
Composting is a viable project that SUNY Plattsburgh should invest in. Recently a group of students have
started a composting project on campus but they need more supplies to keep it running. They are
picking up pre-consumer waste from Algonquin, Campus express, and Tim Hortons. Scraps are being
thrown out when they can be composted and later used as fertilizer. The composting project can be
expanded to the other dining halls, Clinton and the Sundowner.
There will be several buckets in each dining facility for faculty to throw pre-consumer waste in. Towards
the end of the day, two students will pick up these buckets and transport the waste in a wagon across
campus to the composting pile which is located behind sibley hall. There will be clean buckets left
behind at each participating facility for use the next day.
This project could provide educational opportunities for SUNY students. Students could get credit
through practicums for environmental science and public relations and journalism. The environmental
science practicum would allow students to evaluate the soil and find ways to use this fertilized soil
throughout the campus. The public relations and journalism practicums would allow for students to
educate the entire campus on the composting project and to run the program.
We are requesting $1,975.00 for this composting project. This money will be used for a shed, rain
gutters, rain barrels, shovels, headlamps, batteries, gloves, soap, chain locks and money for student
salary. For this project to be environmental friendly the student will use a wagon to transport the waste.
They need shovels and head lamps so they can shovel snow off the path to the composting site in the
winter. The shed will be used to store the gloves, soap, headlamps and ect. at the composting site. The
students take time out of their day to help with this project and they have requested to get paid for the
service they do.
Composting is a simple and easy project to start at SUNY Plattsburgh. It would be easy to continue it
through the years to come. This project could reduce a lot of the waste we are sending to the landfills. It
will provide educational opportunities for students. This project will benefit not only our campus as a
whole but the entire world.

Statement of Need
SUNY Plattsburgh needs to become more environmentally friendly. There is an immense
amount of waste being produced that is compostable. This waste can be collected preconsumer and composted instead of adding to the amount of waste being brought to the
landfill.

Goals and objectives

1.

To help create a more sustainable campus by composting pre-consumer waste

a. To reduce waste going to landfills and collect compostable food
- Divert and compost organic pre consumer waste from the garbage stream into a
compost pile.
b. Educate faculty, students, dining hall staff and community members on the
importance of recovering nutrients from organic waste
- Awareness campaign to educate the SUNY community and the Plattsburgh
community.
c. To create two educational practicums in the Environmental Science department and
Journalism and Public Relations department, this will help each department and the
student by giving them a hands-on learning experience
- Journalism and Public Relations student to run awareness campaign
- Environmental Science student to expand the project

Benefits to the SUNY community

1. We can improve SUNY Plattsburghs sustainability immensely through our compost
program given the right tools and resources.
2. It will bring awareness to the importance of recovering nutrients and closing the
nutrient cycle.
3. It will educate and alert the campus about how their university is making efforts to
become more sustainable.
4. It will create educational opportunities through the two proposed practicums.
5. It will create community service opportunities.

Implementation
1. Currently several 5-gallon buckets are distributed to Algonquin Dining Hall, Tim
Hortons and Campus Express. Here, employees discard pre consumer food waste
into the buckets where it is picked up by a student towards the end of the day.
Students are equipped with 5 more buckets (to leave with the dining service for the
next day) and a wagon that they use to cart the waste to the student garden where
it is composted in a designated facility already put in place. Having left 5 clean
buckets behind at the dining hall, students then disinfect the freshly emptied
buckets, and store the wagon and buckets in the loading bay of Algonquin Dining
Hall. The compost pile at the student garden will is maintained on a weekly basis by
students in charge of transporting the food scraps. They turn the compost pile as
necessary and help the student garden use the compost once it is ready. Currently
the pile is doing well; the compost is being picked up consistently. Both Campus
Express and Tim Hortons have shown appreciation for lighter bags of garbage. There
are two opportunities for educational credit. One in the Environmental Science
department and the other in the Journalism and Public Relations department.
2. Most material expenses for this project have already been paid for by the Center for
Earth and Environmental Science but we are seeking a Green Grant to help improve
the program, to provide a salary for those taking time out of their days to transport
the buckets to and from the garden, and for promotional efforts. Additionally, we
are requesting materials to build a rain runoff system from the shed roof. Currently
rain runoff is pooling in and near the compost pile which can cause leaching and a
slower breakdown of food scraps.

Evaluating the outcomes

1. See if there is a reduction in the amount of waste being produced on campus after
the project has been implemented.
2. The practicum through the environmental science department will be based on a
student finding various ways of improving the composting rate, quality, different
places to use the compost beyond the student garden, if another pick up site could
be added and eventually working towards adding post-consumer waste to this
project.
3. The awareness level can be evaluated by how many people become involved in the
project (volunteers, student participating in practicums, how many people apply to
take on the two paid positions) and through branding the program.

Budget
Item
Gloves
Headlamps
Snow
shovels
AAA
Batteries
for head
lamps (Pack
of 24)
End cap for
gutter
system
Downspout
for gutter
system
Rain barrel
for gutter
system
Rain barrel
stand for
gutter
system
10' gutter
section
Storage
cabinet
Chain lock
for shovels

Quantity Price
5
$
8.81
2
$
6.99
2
$
30.99
1
$
15.25

Tax
$
3.63
$
1.15
$
4.96
$
1.26

Total
$
47.68
$
15.13
$
66.94
$
16.51

$
2.00

$
0.17

$
2.17

$
9.00

$
0.74

$
9.74

$
92.00

$
7.59

$
99.59

$
40.00

$
3.30

$
43.30

$
7.00
$
59.49
$
5.94

$
0.58
$
4.91
$
0.49

$
7.58
$
64.40
$
6.43

1
1

Student
salary- for
15 weeks (a
semester)
Student
salary- for
15 weeks (a
semester)
Disinfectant
(32 oz)
Scrubbing
brush
Pitchfork
Shipping?

75

$
10.00

$
750.00

75

$
10.00

$
750.00

$
12.99
$
3.53
$
24.97
$
42.98

3
1

$
1.07
$
0.87
$
2.06

$
14.06
$
11.46
$
27.03
$
42.98
$
$
$
$
1,975.00

Taxes taken
out?

How Composting Works

Composting is a natural phenomenon that occurs when organic matter begins to break down
and decompose. Compost is produced from carbon, nitrogen, water and oxygen. Carbon rich
materials provide high energy food for decomposers which are typically tan or dark in color.
Examples include corncobs, cornstalks, dry leaves, straw and shredded newspaper. Highnitrogen materials provide protein for decomposers. Many nitrogen-rich items are green and
moist, such as spent annuals or grass clippings. Kitchen scraps fall into this category, including
non-green things like coffee grounds and eggshells much like the pre-consumer waste currently
being collected at SUNY Plattsburgh. Compost piles need water to aid in the process and should
be kept moist like a well wrung sponge. Covering a pile with a tarp or using an enclosed
container can help regulate moisture. Finally oxygen is necessary to help compost piles function
best. As materials start to decompose in your pile, air pockets disappear. Its vital to
incorporate some method to introduce oxygen into your pile. Turning the pile accomplishes this
and will aid in natural aeration. Normally, composting takes a few months to several years.
However, creating optimum conditions for the decomposers can get you quicker results.
Composting can be used in various ways such as providing gardens with rich nutrients in a
sustainable way.

Composting at other Universities

St. Johns University processes two tons of food and coffee grounds a semester. Students
started this project and it continues to be a student run project. The finished compost is used
around campus and as soil for the student gardens. This project started in 2009 and it keeps
growing larger each year adding new equipment and technology. There are 10 students
involved in the project, they pick up the food waste from the cafeterias and the Starbucks and
Dunkin Donuts on campus.
Sullivan County Community College is building a composting facility to manage food waste on
campus. The goal of their project is to build an understanding about the composting process.
In 2001, Allegheny College was the first college in Pennsylvania to start a composting project
with an in-vessel composting operation. They found that their food waste contained too much
salt therefore making it unhealthy to use for soil to grow plants. They needed to blend the
waste with other organic materials to lower the salt concentration.

Works Cited
"Composting for Facilities." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 1 Nov. 2013. Web. 13 Nov.
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Fauchet, Alex. Personal interview. 18 Nov. 2013
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<http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2011/categories/food-recycling>.
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Nov. 2013.
Macri, Aila . Personal interview. 14 Nov. 2013.
Smith, Kelly. How to Build, Maintain, and Use a Compost System: Secrets and Techniques You
Need to Know to Grow the Best Vegetables . Ocala: Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc., 2011. Print.
Smyth, Danielle P., Arthur L. Fredeen, and Annie L. Booth. "Reducing Solid Waste In Higher
Education:
The First Step Towards Greening A University Campus." Resources,
Conservation & Recycling
54.11 (2010): 1007-1016. GreenFILE. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
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Complete. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Sullivan, Dan. "Colleges Scrape The Plate, Close The Loop." Biocycle 51.7 (2010): 44-48.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
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Nov. 2013.
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(2012): 32-33. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
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