Organic Matter Needs Your Attention, Please

Many of you have probably heard about composting one way or another recently, whether it is discussing it at the Farmers Market, in a movie or in the news.  It is an especially hot topic in circles concerned with sustainable living.   Still, you might not realize just how extensive it is becoming, what it even is exactly, or what it has to do with you.  Have no fear though, it’s really quite simple and you’ll know the basics after reading this post!

Composting in its most basic form is taking organic matter and other decomposable materials and treating them in such a way that they decompose into nutrient rich soil that can be reused and put back into the earth in gardening and agriculture.  You can do it in your own backyard, but in most large-scale operations, it is sent to specifically equipped facilities to undergo this process.  UC Davis’s own compostable waste from the Dining Commons is already going to Jepson Prairie Organics in Vacaville for composting.

Many in the Davis community have probably heard about San Francisco’s recent policy of citywide composting.  What you might not have realized is just how active composting proponents have become in the core of Davis itself.  UC Davis, a campus particularly invested in sustainability and green policies, is involved in composting on a variety of fronts, ranging from efforts to make the new RMI winery, brewery, and food processing facilities compost-friendly to a bottom up restructuring of the UC Davis student run Coffee House to incorporate composting practices into their new “zero-waste” agenda when they reopen in Fall 2010.

You may not have known, but all the pre-consumer waste that runs through the kitchens of the CoHo are already being sorted for composting behind the scenes. The tricky part is figuring out how to practically apply composting practices to the post-consumer wastestream in a retail environment.  Most don’t know exactly what composting is about, and in the case of the student on the go, most don’t have the time or the interest in sorting through their trash and discerning what is or isn’t compostable.

Aware of this dilemma, this week, the CoHo, coordinating with other groups on campus (Campus Center for the Environment, ASUCD, Project Compost, and R4 Recycling) conducted a weeklong pilot program in the MU that introduced composting bins into the receptacle lineup.  For the week of March 29-April 2, during peek lunch hours, volunteers were present at nine stations to help educate students on how to separate their trash and figure out what went where.

This education is a necessary part of the growing pains that will inevitably accompany introducing composting into the CoHo.  I know I certainly take for granted the ease with which I sort through my recyclables.  Today, I find recycling easy, but I’ve had around ten years of experience recycling to temper my opinion on the matter.  In the case of composting, there’s a whole new learning curve to come to terms with.

Most figure that food is compostable, which is correct, but it is the less obvious compostable materials that students really need to be educated about.  For instance, instead of landfilling paper plates, cups, and napkins, these materials can be composted.  Today, even some materials that look like plastic (plastics cannot be composted) are actually made from alternative organic materials that can actually be composted.  The CoHo is working on specially labeling such materials to make it easier for students.

When the pilot is complete, physical waste audits of the material will reveal how successful education efforts were and will help the CoHo decide how to best launch their education efforts in the fall when the completed CoHo reopens for business.

Davis’ involvement in such cutting edge practices is very exciting, even if there may be a few kinks to work out before the fall.  Regardless of the challenges, we’re making progress here in Davis, and it does help allay fears that the ginormous trash mounds dutifully tended by Disney’s loveable robot, WALL-E, are an inescapable part of our future.