All about a Program That's Total Garbage!

If you have ever spent time in the Gorse parking lot, you may have seen (or smelled) a large pile that looked like a lot of garbage. Surprisingly enough it was garbage, but a special kind of garbage consisting of a mix of food waste and horse manure placed together by the Campus Conservation Coalition (CCC). CCC is a student group dedicated to increasing awareness of and education about recycling, energy use, water conservation, and other environmental concerns on campus.

In an effort to reduce waste and encourage recycling, the CCC started a composting program in 1995. This program is run by twenty-five volunteers with assistance from buildings and grounds and dining services staff. Currently all residence halls are contributing to the composting effort except for 1837, Ham, and MacGregor Halls. Two to three students each night are in charge of collecting "preconsumer food waste" (scraps from food preparation such as vegetable peelings) from participating residence halls.

Student volunteers estimate that one hundred pounds of food waste are collected each day. According to Mike Buckley of buildings and grounds, nearly one-half ton of materials was composted in February alone. This saves the College approximately thirty dollars per month in landfill fees. While the savings may seem modest, the program is still in its infancy and Buckley hopes that more financial benefits will emerge with time.

Once the waste is collected, students deposit it at the site behind Gorse Child Study Center. Most of the fully decomposed compost is used by Buildings and Grounds for campus plantings. Belle Bergner '97, cochair of the CCC, attributes the program's overwhelming success to "the dedicated volunteers who believe in recycling efforts."

Another important CCC project has been to prepare for Earth Day, an annual event to be held on April 22. This year's celebration will include a week-long program of events beginning April 17 with a campuswide, open discussion to address "What Conservation Means to You." The CCC will also sponsor a lecture by Arol Wulf of the Zendik Farm, who will speak about self-sustaining organic communities. Other events will include an Earth Day rally, river cleanup effort, and dance.