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NEWS
| April 23
Arlington
University, city cooperate on compost
The joint project aims to save
money on campus landscaping and prevent chemical runoff by using
resources that would otherwise go to waste.
By Danny
Woodward
Contributor to The Shorthorn
The Environmental Health and Safety Office
is hoping a new project will make things just a little greener around
here.
The office, in a joint effort with Arlington Master Composters,
a local composting firm, will open an on-campus compost area as
part of Earth Day festivities today. They hope the project means
less chemicals on campus plant life and, ultimately, financial savings
on landscaping.
Composting lets microbial life digest such waste as food, fallen
leaves or grass trimmings, rather than sending the waste to a landfill.
Initially, fuel for the digestive microbes here will be left-over
grounds from on-campus coffee shops and extra vegetables from student
cafeterias.
If a composting area is monitored correctly for temperature and
environment, the result is naturally created, richly nutritious
soil additive that can benefit campus flora.
But benefits extend beyond that, said biology assistant professor
Mark Burleson, who turns autumn leaves into composts for his flower
beds at home.
“Instead of throwing those nutrients away, you’re putting
them back into the soil,” he said. “And it saves you from
buying composting and mulching. There are absolutely nothing but
positives.”
Dr. Burleson, who sponsors the Phi Sigma Society of Biology, said
recycling nature’s nutrients also prevents chemical runoff,
as it eliminates the need for artificial fertilizers.
Composting results in no odor and no health risks.
The idea of the project here is show the benefits of composting,
said Becky Valentich, the recycling events coordinator in charge
of today’s on-campus Earth Day events. The compost area is
in a vacant lot off Summit Avenue and encompasses four sections,
each 3 feet by 3 feet.
“It’s not very big,” Valentich said, “because
it’s just a pilot program.”
Valentich said the campus’ environmental office will monitor
its compost area until Texas Recycles Day in November “to see
what we wind up with.” The project could expand after that,
she added.
Such an endeavor isn’t unique to UTA. Several universities
nationwide conduct similar composting programs. That’s great,
Valentich said, because in her eyes, the environment should be a
concern for college students.
“The way the environment is now, we really need to think about
it,” she said. “This is going to be the younger generation’s
problem. What are they going to do with their trash when all the
landfills are full? They need to start thinking about it now.”
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