A few months ago I conducted a survey with a classmate of mine on composting on Trent's campus.
The following is a list of the key findings from our research on composing at Trent:
-The university’s average waste disposal costs on an annual basis is between $90,000 and $100,000, and this is based solely on how much volume we produce
- The compost program on campus is well-established however, the program awareness, and the involvement of students, faculty and community is seriously lacking. Given the student population of 7,475 we are not doing too badly
-Based on our survey, a significant percentage of the sample group (130 participants) acknowledged and agreed that composting is an essential component of waste management- 31% of the sample said they compost “all the time”
- Based on the survey results, 87% of the participants said that they compost on campus
***Trent University composted 15,000 kilograms in the 2006-2007 academic year. In the 2007-2008 academic year, Trent composted 56,000 kilograms of organic waste, an increase of 273%*** We also noted that during this time there was a 9.6% decrease in the university’s waste disposal costs. This may be attributed to a higher composting rate.
- the university needs to obtain various community environment funds to operate a sustainable composting program. Environment funds from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Eco-Action Canada, Nature Conservancy, Conservation Authorities, the city of Peterborough, the Sierra Youth Coalition and other organizations that value sustainability
-the campus must use materials for education and training including training manuals and posters, pamphlets describing the waste management system, as well as posters and emails distributed across the campus (only 28% of the sample agreed that Trent does a good job at promoting and informing students about waste diversion)
-use community-based social marketing to enhance the composting program. The rationale of community-based social marketing is to create cohesion through direct and personal contact among members of the campus community
-academic departments need to help build the composting program. More information and knowledge will be gained and this can provide the university with a better assessment of its waste management system. For instance, research projects administered by professors and students on studying the environmental impacts of the university's organic waste pile.
-The bottom line is that information dissemination is not enough for meaningful change to occur. Outreach and education programs need to engage and inspire students permanently to change behaviour. In other words, the main goal of compost education should be to explain the merits of why composting is important for the university and how it helps the environment.
-Compost can be sold to local businesses in the Peterborough community. Given that there is substantial demand for the compost, it would generate considerable revenue for the institution. Trent needs to identify the compost market in Peterborough; this can provide an outlet for selling the compost produced at Trent. McGill and UBC have already done this and run their composting programs completely off of the revenue gained from selling their compost to the community
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