Sustainability Office improves accessibility to green bins
What do you do with that banana peel after you get out of class? You’re probably throwing your food scraps and fruit peels into the garbage because green bins aren’t readily available alongside garbage sorting stations. There are, however, numerous compost bins placed around campus, accessible to those who know what to look for.
These black, circular, outdoor compost bins have been tucked in various corners of campus for a few years now, making composting more like a scavenger hunt. This lack of proper infrastructure continues to be addressed by the university’s Sustainability Office.
This year has seen improvements, thanks to additional funding and increased collaboration of various university community members. The compost initiative has been led by the staff and student assistants of the Sustainability Office.
One of the people behind these efforts is Natalie Vasilivetsky — the composting co-ordinator at the Sustainability Office (located in the basement of Blackwood Hall). She is primarily responsible for organizing the placement of composting bins of all sizes across campus, collection schedules for these bins, and collaborating with members of the university community to ensure proper compliance.
Vasilivetsky told The Ontarion that the success of this program depends on “working together with the University community and hospitality services, housekeeping, grounds, and the Guelph Centre for Urban Organic Farming (GCUOF) to expand [successfully].” This year, she is supported by a team of eager student volunteers to enhance the existing composting program throughout campus.
The goal for Fall 2018 is to place more compost collection bins and signage throughout campus, including inside kitchens at many dining areas on campus. These facilities are able to host (and fill) larger bins with daily food scraps created during food production.
By January 2019, the program expects to manage:
- 70 outdoor composters across campus
- 70 100-liter composting totes across kitchens on campus
- 400 small compost bins in locations such as East Residence and Townhouses and various offices
- Seven kitchens, including UC kitchen and Creelman, which have a high volume per single collection
- 12 coffee shops, coffee grounds are regularly collected by volunteers
- Manure composting for the Ontario Veterinary College
- Soil and plant composting at various locations (i.e. Crop Sci, Phytotron, etc.)
- New office additions (organizations can add your staff space to the rotation!)
This year’s expansion of services is driven by motivated students who continue to seek out an increased number of green bins in residences. Vasilivetsky reminds interested students that while she can facilitate setting up these smaller bins, it is an individual’s responsibility to administer emptying the bin into the nearest external composter, not the building’s housekeeping staff or program volunteers.
One of the primary sources of compost material is from on-campus coffee shops providing coffee grinds to the “Coffee to Compost” division of the program. These provide a nutrient-rich component in healthy organic soil development. This reliable source provides a substantial, ongoing contribution to support the addition of food scraps in varying quantities from small collection buckets to large kitchen collections.
A noticeable gap in service is the front-of-house dining areas (such as the UC food court), and this is due to numerous factors, such as plastic contamination and lack of proper waste and dishwashing infrastructure on campus. The recommended practice for concerned students at this time is to bring your compostable food waste to the nearest backyard bin (see map, accurate as of Summer 2018).
The program, which was initiated by students and led by volunteers, is now expanding within the Sustainability Office to further support efforts of one sole paid employee to numerous paid and volunteer team members.
Vasilivetsky reiterates, “never underestimate the power of student activism!” Small collection bins can be provided to students who are eager to divert their food waste while on campus.
The Sustainability Office’s website regularly updates their map, which helps to visualize the total distribution of compost bins.
Throughout the 2018 to 2019 school year, look for compost bins in familiar spaces and consider any additional locations for a new bin. Vasilivetsky encourages the use of a well-read issue of The Ontarion to line a personal bin as a biodegradable, GCUOF-approved campus standard. This recommendation is due to the campus-managed site being unable to process any plastic (even biodegradable) organics liners at GCUOF, which is located east of campus and is the home for your compost contributions.
The history of the program, as well as contact information, and helpful information to improve your own personal composting habits, helping divert food from local landfills. are all found on the compost section of the school website: www.uoguelph.ca/sustainability/composting
You can contact Natalie Vasilivetsky at compost@pr.uoguelph.ca with any questions or concerns about the composting system on the U of G campus.
Photo by Karen K. Tran/The Ontarion
Map produced by Jude Keefe