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Increased contamination threatens campus composting program

Since 2011, compost has been the main way that CU �鶹ӰԺ takes care of its campus. After the campus discontinued its use of pesticides, they looked to the more sustainable option to care for their grounds. However, compost in the Front Range is in jeopardy, and we are partially to blame. 

Compost is a fertilizer made up of food waste, decomposing plants, and recycled materials. This fertilizer is then used to maintain the grounds on CU and farmland in the surrounding areas. Currently, there is only one compost provider serving the entire Front Range, and that is A1 Organics. Since 2000, A1 Organics has managed to divert over 7 million tons of organic material from Colorado landfills. 

“Composting has so many benefits, the first one I can think of is that it keeps a lot of food scraps out of the landfill. When food scraps go into the landfill, they get really hot underneath piles and piles of trash and they start producing methane fumes which is an extremely more potent pollutant than carbon dioxide,” said Kat Avedovech, a member of the Zero Waste Outreach Team at CU. 

Unfortunately, recently A1 Organics has been receiving a lot of contaminated compost batches, making it impossible for them to use them in their products. This is where we may be contributing to the downfall of compost at CU.

From Your Meal to Your Mulch

Located all around campus are compost bins. In the classrooms, the dining halls, the on-campus restaurants. But that doesn’t mean that everyone knows how to use them. Only certain waste items are compostable, and it only takes a small thing that doesn’t belong to ruin a whole batch.

“A lot of the common contamination objects we see are candy wrappers and chip bags all in the compost. a lot of the students I’ve talked to really do care, it’s just a whole matter of education,” said Avedovech.

After a bag of compostable materials is sent to A1 Organics for the composting process, they will sort through the bag and search for contaminants. If they find contaminants, they will send the waste to the landfill and fine the school. Recently, A1 Organics have been receiving a lot of contaminated batches, leading CU to consider scrapping composting on campus. Despite this, many students don’t even know that the program could get discontinued.

There are many steps involved in commercial manufacturing of compost: separating, grinding, composting, curing, screening, and distributing. Contamination stops this process at step 1. Grinding gets the compost into a uniform mixture where it is then laid out and wetted in order to kill any weeds and seeds present as well as make it more uniform. Curing allows the carbon and nitrogen levels to finalize and screening once again serves to break up large pieces of compost. The distribution process comes at the end when the compost is sold to customers. 

A few compostable things that students see everyday are: Fruits and vegetables, coffee grounds, tea bags, leaves, hair, etc.

What We are at Risk of Losing

With continued fining of the university for contaminated compost, soon it may be something that they cannot afford to do. If compost goes, there isn’t really a clear picture at what the results will be, but for the environment, they won’t be good. 

“If compost is gone, there's going to be so much more stuff crowding landfills…extreme environmental benefits come from composting,” said Avedovech.

In a place like �鶹ӰԺ, with abundant outdoor opportunities, more methane in the air could dampen the natural beauty that surrounds CU. Methane gas suffocates the roots of trees and plants, making it harder for them to survive in areas with higher volumes of it in the atmosphere. 

As the future comes, many programs like the Environmental Centers Zero Waste team are seeking to educate students about composting on campus, but it is also important that we educate ourselves. In order to keep this amazing option open to our university, we must begin to take more responsibility for compost on campus.

“I think the school should definitely have students learn more about it. Maybe through mandatory learning or something through canvas so they at a minimum know what goes where,” said Starishinova.