Compost program recycled

By Jesus Diaz

Santa Clara my have earned a "B" on the Sustainability Report Card, but the new composting program has yet to make the grade.

At the beginning of this school year Santa Clara officially re-launched a compost system at Market Square in Benson Memorial Center as an attempt to "grow the culture of sustainability on campus," according to Sustainability Coordinator Lindsey Cromwell.

This system was unsuccessfully launched six years ago as a pilot program. Its failure was partially attributed to the high cost of composting and underestimating the amount of waste.

But the new system is getting mixed reviews from students.

"I don't think it's clearly laid out and the advertising should be more visible," said senior Christopher Davis.

This new composting program came to fruition only weeks before Santa Clara was named as a Campus Sustainability Leader and received an overall "B" grade in the College Sustainability Report Card 2010.

It was the third straight year the university received this title, awarded for scoring better than an "A-" in certain categories evaluating campus sustainability.

Of the 332 public and private colleges and universities assessed through research and voluntary responses from school administrators, all schools were graded on nine categories. The Report Card is published by the Sustainable Endowment Institute, a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

The College Sustainability Report Card is designed to identify colleges and universities that are leading in sustainability commitment.

Santa Clara recently added a compost system to its list of sustainability initiatives.

According to Cromwell, the system consists of the composition of items such as remains of food, coffee grounds, teabags and to-go containers instead of placing most recyclable items in the trash or landfill waste.

'»¿"Right now, the system is working and we're able to divert a lot of waste from the landfill," said Cromwell.

Unlike the first launching of the recycling system, a waste company is helping the university with the composting this year.

Mission Trail Waste Systems Inc. now collects the hundreds of pounds of compost-to-be waste that the university produces and sends it to a compost facility where the process begins.

The idea of bringing the compost collection back as a sustainability tool was started last February when a group of ten students -- including members of the Santa Clara Green Club -- began an activity in which they sorted a load of waste from a Benson compactor.

According to the Office of Sustainability, the activity took place on Feb. 20 of this year and the total weight of the compactor was 11,640 pounds of which 1,101 pounds were actually sorted by the students.

Data showed that 51 percent of the waste could have been composted while 28 percent could have been recycled. One percent of the waste was found to be reusable items and 20 percent was found to be non-recyclable trash.

According to data provided by the Office of Sustainability, the students also raised questions about whether receipts should be offered as on-demand since 66.2 pounds of paper was found among the waste and could have easily been recycled.

In May, the compost system was re-introduced to the Market Square kitchen first to ensure training and success.

"We wanted the kitchen to get comfortable first before introducing it to the students," said Cromwell.

In April, the new system was first introduced to the public during the 2009 Preview Days where admitted prospective students and families were served lunch.

"It worked out quite well because most of the items served at the event were compost items," said Cromwell.

The compost system was then introduced to the students at Market Square during the first week of school.

An environmental steward also stands beside the waste bins on most days to direct students in case of confusion.

'»¿"The person standing next to the bins is very helpful because I often do not know what to throw in each bin," said freshman Bismah Aziz.

However, some students still feel confused about the new system and its advertisement.

"'»¿I think it's confusing because the requirements are not written big enough so it's inconvenient when I am in a rush or have class early in the morning," sophomore Molly Grant said.

According to Cromwell, it is too early to tell whether the student body will fully cooperate to ensure the successfulness of the system.

Items that do not belong on the compost bin include landfill waste like styrofoam cups, disposable beverage containers such as Benson's Pepsi cups and plastic and foil packaging. Contamination occurs when landfill waste is thrown in the compost bin, said Bon Appétit Marketing Manager Melissa Reynen.

Yet, the composting system is not alone in its mixed reviews. Santa Clara did not receive stellar scores across all categories on the Sustainability Report Card.

Instead, they received a "D" in the endowment transparency category and a "C" in the shareholder engagement category.

However, 136 other schools scored an "F" in shareholder engagement, the weakest category across all schools, and 87 received and "F" for endowment transparency.

The highest overall grade received was an "A-," awarded to only eight percent of the schools surveyed.

These top 26 schools were recognized as Overall College Sustainability Leaders.

For this and previous years' scores, visit greenreportcard.org.

Contact Jesus Diaz at (408) 554-4546 or jadiaz@scu.edu.