The new composting project at Loyola has been a means for different campus organizations that strive to make the university more environmentally friendly.
The proposal for a composting project started last spring when Loyola’s Association of Students for Sustainability, a student organization geared to promote sustainability through advocacy, education and innovation, held a competition called Green For Green, in which small teams proposed ideas for a more environmentally friendly campus. The team that was judged as having the best idea was given both prize money and a grant to implement its project.
Three members of student organization Sunday Cooks won the competition with their proposal to implement a compost program at Loyola.
After a few complications and Loyola University Community Action Program’s intervention, a composting project was finally in full swing this past November.
As part of the pilot program, the Sodexo staff sorts all organic waste from the Orleans Room into bins. These bins are picked up daily by a local organization called NOLA Green Roots and brought to a processing lot. Once the waste is transformed into soil, it is used in the organization’s network of community gardens. According to Heather Bacque, general manager at Sodexo, NOLA Green Roots has picked up over 3,000 pounds of waste from the Orleans Room since November.
Joe Deegan, the LUCAP faculty adviser, was partially responsible for brokering this deal with NOLA Green Roots and Sodexo.
“The costs are fairly minimal for composting at Loyola. Our contract for the entire year was less than $3,000. Although it doesn’t put us at full capacity in terms of the amount of pre-consumer waste that the kitchen can generate, it’s a good first step in developing a more comprehensive composting program at the university,” Deegan said.
According to philosophy senior Faith Akgun, the current president of LASS who helped start the project, NOLA Green Roots and Sodexo will discuss furthering their partnership once the pilot program ends in May.
“It has been an educational tool for those involved, an exciting business venture, a scientific experiment, a community venture and a restorative effort. For all of these benefits and more to come from something as simple as food scraps is pretty remarkable,” Akgun said.
Alden Woodhull, mass communication sophomore and a current member of LASS, also said she strongly feels that composting is a big step for Loyola.
“The thing I love most about composting is that is ties our school to the greater New Orleans community. This is a movement that reaches far beyond the walls of campus,” Woodhull said.
Katie Sloan can be reached at [email protected]
