Sustain Mizzou’s Feb. 20 meeting gave an overview of future plans for waste reduction on campus.
Sustain Mizzou held a meeting to give students a crash course in composting on Tuesday, Feb. 20. Attendees were joined by Don Jackson, the director of Campus Dining Services.
Sustain Mizzou Composting leads Davis Salle and Sophia Sapp presented at-home composting tips before announcing that CDS is joining the fight to reduce waste in landfills. Jackson joined Sallee and Sapp to speak about the improvements CDS has made in efforts to protect our environment.
This past fall semester, CDS implemented compostable utensils and flatware at many of its locations. While these aren’t something that students would be able to compost, CDS works with BlueBird Composting, a company that carries out industrial composting which can compost a wider range of items. Alongside using compostable utensils, CDS has gone back to using their dish rooms at all-you-care-to-eat locations. This allows them to reduce food waste by putting food left on plates into compost bins instead of into the trash. After spring break, CDS will introduce compostable cups to their locations as well.
CDS also plans to implement reusable to-go containers at the all-you-care-to-eat locations. Jackson said he is particularly excited about this program after having seen the success at previous universities he has worked for such as the University of Texas at Austin and Ohio University. With help from the company Topanga.io, CDS will implement a reusable container rental program.
Reusable containers will be free to rent and must be returned within five days. When returning these containers, students can also return any food scraps and compostable utensils that CDS will then sort into their composting bins. Jackson hopes to begin this program in the upcoming fall semester, beginning at the Restaurants at Southwest.
“We have a long way to go but what we did here tonight helps,” Jackson said in regard to the future of sustainability at CDS.
Following CDS, Tiger Pantry also briefly presented on how they are implementing composting. Tiger Pantry provides fresh options, so they produce more food waste than a traditional food pantry. To combat this, Sustain Mizzou picks up Tiger Pantry’s food waste and takes it to the Henry Kirklin Community Garden where it is composted.
Sustain Mizzou is working hard to provide a place to learn about composting. With the help of CDS and Tiger Pantry, this composting knowledge is being put into action.
Edited by Sam Barrett | sbarrett@themaneater.com
Copy Edited by Jackson Cooper and Briana Iordan | biordan@themaneater.com
Edited by Scout Hudson | shudson@themaneater.com