CU Boulder has been at the national forefront of sustainability initiatives for several years and this year, a CU Boulder residence hall will attempt a zero-waste composting program. Buckingham is the first residence hall and building on campus to have a fully functioning composting system. Lucy Haggard, Buckingham’s EcoRep, is spearheading the initiative to promote sustainably responsible behavior and to make sure students know how to dispose of compost properly inside Buckingham’s bathrooms.
Haggard’s main role is educating the hall on what can and can’t be composted and to encourage residents to make more environmentally conscious decisions. She says one of the best parts about her job as an EcoRep is organizing events for the Kittredge community to learn about the many sustainable alternatives that exist for everyday items, such as T-shirts. At the beginning of this semester, Haggard coordinated a tie-dye party where the T-shirts were made of 100 percent cotton and the dyes were eco-friendly. Before the semester ends, she plans to make eco-friendly body scrubs with her hall.
Housing and Dining Services and Res Life hope that the pilot program in Buckingham will pave the way for composting in other residence halls and buildings on campus. As long as contamination of the compost bins remains minimal, the program has a good chance of expanding next fall. The more buildings on campus that have composting available means less waste is being diverted to commercial processing plants and more compostable materials are able to be reused.
Eco tip:
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Never put No. 7 compostable plastic in a recycling bin, the two plastics are completely different. If you are unsure about your plastic, it is better to place it in the landfill bin rather than contaminate the recycling bin, but always check the bottom first.
For further information on composting’s best practices visit http://www.colorado.edu/ecenter/recycling/compost
