As of Tuesday morning, Dartmouth Dining Services has dramatically cut back on composting at its campus dining facilities over concerns of compost contamination. Though composting will still take place in DDS kitchens, public composting has been suspended indefinitely.
The compost program has been halted at the request of Lisa Ashworth, College civil engineer, head of Dartmouth Recycles and advisor to the Environmental Conservation Organization at Dartmouth.
Ashworth contacted ECO Coordinator Brent Reidy '05 over the past week about suspending the compost program because of excessive compost contamination. Under the suspended program, compost was contaminated when it contained a certain amount of waste that could not be composted, such as aluminum and plastics.
"Ever since the compost program began, there have been problems with contamination ... with people not sorting trash properly," Reidy said. "Once we ship the compost to its facility, it is deemed unfit to be used and ends up going to the landfill anyway."
Director of Dining Services Tucker Rossiter said that DDS had no prior concern with contamination because "DDS doesn't go through the trash at the public bins. It gets loaded straight onto trucks to the compost sites."
As of today, Reidy is still "trying to reconfigure the program" so it can be reinstated. He mentioned that there will eventually be an ECO forum to consider a new compost initiative; however, he already has at least one idea in mind.
"Perhaps we could have a food-only compost, and incorporate it in with the Dartmouth organic farm," he said.
Reidy added that ECO expends a great deal of energy trying to prevent compost contamination. ECO sends "compost fairies" to almost every major orientation food event and sends representatives to DDS dining facilities throughout the year to educate students about what can go to compost.
"We've made almost every effort to help people learn about compost," Reidy said. "Sometimes [compost contamination] might be due to confusion, but when you find an aluminum can in the compost bin, it's because people don't want to be conscious about what to compost."
Reidy is sure that DDS will resume composting once the contamination issue is worked out.
"DDS has always been enthusiastic about composting," he said. We've had the support of DDS and the support of administration for all ecological efforts."
ECO composting intern Erin Fifield '05 agreed with the decision to suspend the compost program.
"We are just going to have to figure out a different way to do it," she said. "There needs to be composting in some form or another."
Elizabeth Middleton '06, a "compost fairy," said that students should not forget about composting even though they presently cannot do it.
"Composting is something you can carry beyond college," she said. "I do it at home."
Composting had been available at all DDS facilities since October 1999, and was made possible by earlier ecological movements at the College.
In 1988, a report on campus found that despite the fact that Dartmouth had a recycling rate between 35 and 40 percent, 51 percent of the remaining waste stream could still be composted.
By 1990, the college was composting material at the Organic Farm. In 1998, in conjunction with the town of Hanover, the College opened a compost plant near Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
