News- Oval grass to feed on FZ leftovers
This article was originally published in the Montana Kaimin (April 11, 2003)
Oval grass to feed on Food Zoo leftovers By LUKE JOHNSON for the Montana Kaimin
Students who eat in the Food Zoo next fall may be sun tanning or playing frisbee in the Oval, unaware theyre surrounded by the scraps of food they left on their plates.
In a few weeks University of Montana Dining Services, with the help of Faculty Services, will begin construction behind the Lommasson Center on two earth tubs, each measuring 10 feet by 10 feet by 2 feet. The tubs will decompose food waste from the Food Zoo, eventually turning the waste into compost that will be used on the schools lawns beginning in the fall.
This program has really got some potential in the amount of ways that it will benefit the school, said Mark Loparco, director of UM Dining Services.
Classes will be offered in the fall that take a closer look at whats going on with the earth tub, Loparco said.
The classes will be taught by forestry professor Tom DeLuca and environmental studies professor Neva Hassanein, neither of whom could be reached for comment.
Scraps of food waste from preparation and from students leftovers will be placed in the earth tubs, where a process of in-vessel decomposition will turn the scraps into compost.
Each tub will be able to hold 3,000 pounds of food waste, Loparco said. Every day we will be able to handle 200 pounds more waste.
In the tub the food will be mixed with a source rich in carbon, like wood chips, said UM student Josh Burnim, the recycling intern at UMs Facilities Services. The contents will be churned with a motorized auger at an angle and ready to come out of the tubs after two months.
From there the contents need to sit out for another 30 to 60 days before being used as compost.
Were working with our engineer Denise (DeLuca) to help make sure that well avoid bad odor and come out with a good end product, Burnim said.
The earth tubs will be erected on the back side of the Lommasson Center, where the trash bins and cardboard compactor now stand.
The overall cost of the project will be just over $30,000, Burnim said.
Each tub costs $7,500, while construction of the area will cost almost $18,000, according to Burnim.
A few parking spaces will be removed and the cardboard compactor will be moved for the project.
The program was aided by a $5,000 federal grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The idea of the project is to benefit the University and show off the project to other schools in the state, project engineer Denise DeLuca said.
If all goes well with the program at UM, other state institutions will follow suit, DeLuca said.
Loparco said the idea of composting on campus has been a goal of his for several years.
Loparco and Burnim proposed the idea to the Recycling Oversight Committee, on which they both sit.
Weve been talking about it since October or September, Burnim said. We got the idea going, started looking into different units and found a good system.
Burnim is pleased that departments on campus are coming together behind the project.
Im really excited because a lot of departments have stepped up to make this happen, Burnim said. As a student to have so many departments jumping behind my idea its just very gratifying.
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