Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Sustainable College Communities: Incorporating a Sustainable Food Loop
EPA Grant Number: SU834739Title: Sustainable College Communities: Incorporating a Sustainable Food Loop
Investigators: Mylon, Steven , Kney, Arthur D. , Weidner, Austin , Peacock, Brian , Hayes, Donovan , Clark, Emily , Bell, Jenn , Greenleaf, John , Kokus, Maryann , Citrin, Rebecca , Philipp, Sam , Dorn, Stacey , Siddiqua, Thafhim
Institution: Lafayette College
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: August 15, 2010 through August 14, 2011
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2010) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Challenge Area - Sustainable and Healthy Communities , P3 Challenge Area - Chemical Safety , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
The objective of this project was to strengthen our composting system, garden, and relationship with dining services to “close” the Lafayette food loop. Initiatives such as composting and organic gardening benefit the environment by preventing excessive waste from entering landfills, reducing the amount of chemical fertilizers used, and providing the community with locally grown organic food. By combining composting and organic gardening with the existing food service system at Lafayette, we created a semi-closed food system where food produced at the garden is consumed in the dining halls, food waste from the dining halls is composted, and this compost is used at the garden for fertilizer. The composting system was expanded to handle all organic waste generated by Lafayette College from dining halls and landscaping/grounds operations, to understand the nitrogen cycle in compost when a large amount of material is processed, and to adapt organic gardening methods for better yield. An educational program was incorporated into the project with the aim of improving the understanding of the food loop and other sustainable practices at Lafayette College and the surrounding community.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The progress includes:
- Expanded the Lafayette College composting system to process the majority of food waste generated in the dining halls and began to institutionalize the system.
- Cultivated 1.04 acres of crops and served the food in the dining halls.
- Created educational signage that will be installed at the garden, composting operation, rainwater collection system and solar panels when the ground thaws. Gravel pathways will link all of these sustainability initiatives.
- Developed10 sustainability education programs for children.
- Gave four ‘brown-bag’ presentations about the food loop to the Lafayette community.
- Increased awareness of sustainability initiatives on campus by 17 percent.
- Reduced landfill-bound waste.
- Reduced nutrient loading in watersheds by recycling and application of nutrients.
- Reduced emissions due to both food and waste transportation.
- Improved local soil structure.
- Improved local urban ecology by ensuring permanent green space and its associated benefits.
- Created a pilot project for other institutions interested in sustainability to follow.
- Prepared one journal article and gave eight conference presentations, all with student involvement, because of student and faculty research on the food loop in general and compost nitrogen cycling.
- Integrated the following courses at Lafayette into the project: CE 321 Introduction to Environmental Engineering, CHEM 252 Environmental Chemistry, VAST 203 Sustainability of Built Systems, and EGRS 480 Sustainable Solutions.
Conclusions:
Our project improved people, prosperity and the planet by creating a food loop that not only has less environmental impact than the existing system but also serves to educate the community about practices that have both environmental and economic benefits. By continuing to foster these community relations, we hope that our system will be replicated by other schools, organizations, and communities ultimately resulting in a much wider impact.
The project adapted existing knowledge to yield an innovative approach to food production. Though composting and organic gardening are by no means new technologies, their synergistic application to the development of a sustainable system with community-wide impacts is new to this project. The major innovations in this project are (1) the system framework links food production, food service, and waste management on campus and considers off-campus implications of these systems and (2) the application of food-waste recycling to urban revitalization and community education programs. This system arose as a result of the combined inspiration of many people from widespread disciplines. Though many of the major contributors to this project are in the field of engineering, students in chemistry, geology, English, and economics also played significant roles.
Through this intense intellectual collaboration and dedicated volunteers willing to contribute hard labor, the food loop has come to be. In addition, two external funding partners contributed to the project. The Ludwick Foundation and the Pennsylvania DEP contributed $112,000 and $42,000, respectively, to the composting program. The DEP grant enabled us to purchase two Earth Tubs and our two pulpers. In addition to the Earth Tub installation and composting site development, the Ludwick Foundation also funded a student researcher over the Summer 2010 and Winter Interim 2010-11 sessions and provided financial support for testing supplies. While much of the project went smoothly, the largest obstacles that had to be overcome were operational issues with the composting system and the tedious administrative approval process. Through perseverance, these impediments were overcome and the food loop was built.
Throughout the project, local schools and organizations were able to observe and interact with the creation of this new paradigm. Many of these organizations began to use organic gardening practices and/or composting and looked to us for guidance in the installation of these systems. In addition to the environmental benefits, these practices improved community involvement and interaction and promoted a healthy lifestyle.
The installation of a sustainable food loop on a college campus has proven a successful model that deserves replication. While the project’s impacts can be quantified in terms of reduced environmental impacts such as compost produced or pounds of nitrogen reused, this enumeration was not a major focus of the Phase I project. Phase II will seek to better quantify the environmental benefits of the Lafayette food loop and present this information as an educational tool available to all.
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 9 publications | 1 publications in selected types | All 1 journal articles |
---|
Type | Citation | ||
---|---|---|---|
|
Adelman MJ, Kney AD, Peacock BC, Rothenberger MB, Greenleaf JE. Rethinking the land application value of municipal waste compost through improved nitrogen management. The Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management 2017;43(4):338-345. |
SU834739 (Final) |
Exit |
Supplemental Keywords:
food, compost, sustainability, database, food loop, organic gardeningRelevant Websites:
The Society of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (S.E.E.S.) Exit
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.