Composting at UVic
Yard Wastes:
UVic has been composting yard wastes since 1970. This organic material consists of leaves, grass, branches, pruning trimmings, old pallets and other natural wood products.
The material is collected and stored behind B-Hut and ground into uniform, small pieces by a large, tub-grinder three times a year. The ground product is formed into windrows by a front-end loader, which allows the composting process to begin and decomposes the organic material into rich mulch
The windrows are turned and mixed on a regular basis, helping distribute the organisms which decompose the organics, as well as ensuring adequate moisture levels. The mulch is used throughout the University as a fertilizer.
When the windrows are being turned, some odours are produced (and often noticed by students, staff and faculty). These odours are the result of a natural, decomposition process and usually dissipate within a few days.
Food Wastes:
The CRD estimates that as much as 23 per cent of waste in Hartland Landfill is made up of food waste. In 2003, UVic started composting all food wastes from the University Centre cafeteria, the Cadboro Commons cafeteria, Mac’s Bistro, Nibbles and Bytes café, Fraser Café and food outlets in the Student Union Building. Now running in the Graduate Student Building and Finnerty Express, the composting program has diverted almost 500 metric tones (over 1 million pounds or 40 full dump trucks) of waste from the landfill.
In 2006, facilities management added three centralized compost drop stations on campus, making it easy for students, faculty and staff to compost organic matter. From paper cups to fruit peels to leftover foods, the compost stations accept much more than the common household compost bin.
Vegetable Based Oil Recycling:
Currently, all food service outlets on campus divert approximately 1000 litres per year of cooking oil to Island Processing. This company cleans the vegetable based oil by boiling, settling and centrifuging. The product is subsequently sold to the feed industry, which incorporates the oil into various dietary mixtures for livestock.
Composting at Home:
By composting organic material from your kitchen at home, not only are you helping eliminate waste from entering the landfill, you are helping to return organic material to the soil, which in turn improves plant growth. Home composting is relatively easy and can be accomplished by a variety of means.
(1) Worm bins - a popular choice of composting for individuals living in apartments or townhouses. A plastic or wooden container big enough to fit 500 to 2000 redworms is filled with damp bedding and the worms. When you have food waste, simply pull aside some of the bedding, bury the waste and then cover it up again. In two to three months the worms and other microorganisms will have eaten all of the food waste and will produce rich compost.
(2) Heat method - beneficial when you want to mix food scraps and yard waste without worry about pest problems, killing soil diseases and weed seeds, and producing compost in a short amount of time. Gather all your ingredients into a 3 feet cubed pile with an approximate balance of 30:1 carbon to nitrogen. The temperature should peak at 120 - 160 degrees Fahrenheit after 4-7 days and when it starts to decrease, the pile needs to be turned. The compost will be ready in 3-4 months.
(3) 3 bin rotation system - if you have a lot of yard waste and a backyard, this is an ideal composting option. There are three bins in this system; you place your compostable materials in the first bin and when most of the material is reduced, the compost is turned with a manure fork into bin #2. When the ingredients are ready to be used as compost, they can be stored in bin #3. The composting process will be successful, providing you keep in mind some basic instructions for maintaining the pile:
First, there are two major elements that are present in organic material and essential for good composting. Nitrogen, found in fresh grass clippings, manure and kitchen scraps, must be mixed in a 1:1 ratio with carbon, found in dried leaves, sawdust and straw (chopping up materials to be added to your pile increases surface area which decreases composting time!). Layering these materials is one way to achieve the desired composition, however mixing the materials as you go, generally speeds up the composting process.
Second, moisture is another very important factor. The compost pile should maintain the moisture that is roughly equivalent to that of a wrung out sponge. The compost should be watered if it becomes dried out. Covering the top with black plastic or a tarp helps retain moisture.
Third, a common problem with composts is a lack of oxygen. Regularly turning the contents of the pile is a good way to promote oxygen flow. Poking or drilling holes into the compost with a shovel handle is also effective.
Finally, temperature works in a linear fashion with compost decomposition, the more heat that is produced, the faster it will decompose. Larger piles of compost tend to create more heat and insulate themselves better.