The University of Idaho Food and Farm Composting Project is back up and running after the project was closed for eight months for facility renovations.
The University of Idaho Sustainability Center and partners across campus established the Food and Farm Composting Project in 2010.
A goal identified within the UI dining contract was to reduce campus waste by 90 percent. In order to achieve this goal, the most effective way was to implement a composting program.
Campus dining, UISC, Environmental Science Program and UI Dairy have all contributed to the program and all helped build the concrete bays at the dairy where the compost is collected and turned.
In a waste characterization study done by the UISC, 68 percent of things thrown away on campus can either be recycled or composted. This 68 percent of materials is instead taken 200 miles away to a landfill in Oregon, and of that 68 percent, 38 percent is recyclable and 30 percent is compostable, according to the study.
In May 2013, the UISC decided to close the program for construction and big improvements.
More groups such as ASUI contributed funding to the project improvements.
“There is about 100 tons of livestock manure and 37 tons of food waste from Bob’s and the Idaho Commons annually,” UISC Program Coordinator Jeannie Matheison said.
“We are making the program better, stronger and more efficient, so that it can have a larger flow of materials,” Matheison said.
The UISC decided to downsize the compost bins at Bob’s Place and in the Commons to 30 gallons in order to help with the weight and make it easier to transport compost to the site. The bins are picked up every day, Monday through Friday.
The project requires reliable transportation to move the compostable materials. In order for this to be done, the President’s Office awarded $10,000 to help support the program by creating positions for students to do the transportation.
Campus Dining helped support the project as well by purchasing a 20-year-old truck to transport the materials.
Brian Johnson, assistant vice president of Facilities, played a large role in supporting the project. He pitched the project to upper administration and helped secure funding.
“Without his dedication to the program, we wouldn’t be where we are now,” Matheison said. “He has really strengthened it.”
UI Dairy Manager, Josh Peak, is now taking over management of the compost program. Along with managing the site, he is coordinating and scheduling the students who are picking up the compost and transporting it. He is also keeping an eye on contamination and notifying partners if there is any contamination that needs to be taken care of.
Matheison said that since 2010, more than 100 student volunteers and numerous dining patrons have helped to support the food and farm composting in the commons. She said they have diverted 111 tons of food waste from the landfill.