Composting at the University of New England: RIGHTS & WRONGS
What UNE is doing RIGHT
If you briefly research what UNE is doing on campus to help innovate a healthier planet, you don’t find much. However, one program that UNE has been active in since 2017 is composting. UNE’s website explains (in vague detail) that they collect the food scraps that come from the dining hall and send them to Benson Farm in Gorham, ME. They also have a free composting program for the resident halls where they provide compostable garbage bags and a key to the locked compost bins that are located on campus. There are two bins: One is near Sokokis Hall and the other is outside of Avila Hall, near the quad.
It is refreshing that I attend a school that cares about the environment and it was definitely a factor in my choice of where to go to college. Doing a small amount of composting is always better than none; however, I would love to see more initiative for such an important program.
What UNE could work on
Like I stated above, UNE just needs to work on the amount that they actually compost/contribute to this cause. I cannot find information as to whether or not every dining hall (The Ripich Commons, The Pub, and the Forum) actively participates in this program today. If not, incorporating this practice into the waste disposal of each of these dining halls at the highest rate possible, would propel this program to even higher limits – which is what UNE should be trying to aim for.
Additionally, UNE should expand the residential composting program it has on campus. Two compost bins and optional composting allows for the program to fall through. These bins are not properly maintained in the winter, by just glancing you can tell that there is a thick layer of ice on top, preventing anyone from being able to access them. The addition of an internship program for the Environmental/Marine Science majors would allow for a more affordable option when staffing people to maintain these bins. Another idea to improve composting here on campus would be to implement somewhat “mandatory” composting in residence halls. Of course, everyone has free will and you cannot force anyone to compost, but supplying small, cheap kitchen compost bins (provided free by the University) would encourage students, in a much easier way, to contribute to the program just like many do with recycling today.
These bins would allow on-campus residents to collect their organic food waste in a more reliable location other than a bag and would hopefully provide more incentive to keep up with the task. The current recycling bins that are provided for each room on campus seem to be working wonderfully. Everyone I know personally uses them continuously. Similar to the recycling on campus, I believe it is necessary for there to be more compost bins located on campus. More bins for students to dump their food waste means more students actually willing to participate.
