Compost rounds and more...

Hopefully everyone noticed the bin for compost in the Commons on Thursday last week. I was able to collect 12.4 pounds of compost which was less than I had expected. The thing is I did not realize how hard it is to compost much in the Commons because they tend to cook vegetables in butter, and not many people eat a bunch of raw fruit or vegetables. But overall there was a surprisingly positive response to the bin which was nice. I got a few emails in response to my campus wide mostly of encouragement, and one asking a question about composting. All of the Commons employees were helpful, as were the athletic trainers who let me weigh the compost on their scale, and I owe them a huge thanks. Although there was not a very large volume of compost, the event definitely increased awareness and got people talking about composting which was wonderful. I loved walking around and hearing random people talking about it. At one point I was considering pushing the Commons to get a bin and put it where I did, but for now I think that it would be too much effort for too small of a reward.
I checked on the compost bins again this week, and found much of the same thing as last week with some trash, too many wet things, and a slightly unpleasant smell. I broke things up with a shovel, and added a bit of finished compost that I had brought from home, but much more needs to be done. Hopefully, I can add some dried weeds from the garden next time, and if necessary, some cardboard or other dry things. The problem is that I do not have much time to spend walking around to each bin and taking care of it. I may look into working with the food committee in SEAK to assign a person to each bin (or a few people) in order to divide up the work. Also, at some point I will be meeting with Bob Mathis and a few other people to discuss the industrial composter and the possibility of a student worker for the compost.