LACK OF COMPOST DOESN’T ADD UP

Garbage and recycling bins are widely available across campus.

However, there are only a few compost bins, and they’re all in the same place.

In the PUB, bins come in threes, with the green compost bin alongsideu the blue recycling and black garbage containers. Once a person steps outside of the PUB, those green bins disappear, leaving them with just two choices for dealing with food scraps: toss it in the garbage or hold onto it to deal with later.

“The goal is to make recycling and composting readily available campus-wide. We’re exploring what that may look like right now,” said Jason Francois, SCC’s director of facilities.

Recently, SCC hired Paul Barton to fill a new job as the sustainability coordinator. The Ecological Integrity Steering Committee (EISC), which includes both Francois and Barton, is in charge of exploring possible plans for expanding composting on campus.

Lancer, the food service provider for SCC, is also currently in charge of waste disposal on campus. Francois said the EISC will also reach out to Lancer to see what the options are.

Composting isn’t the only thing the EISC is working on. Although there are quite a number of recycling bins on campus, Barton said there are plenty of spots that could be improved.

“Not many classrooms have recycling,” Barton said. “A lot of staff offices don’t have recycling. We’re thinking of having a centralized recycling system on each floor for staff to use, and that would help with separating different types of recycling, too.”

By Ed Strong,
Staff Writer