FLC Campus Ecology – Solid Waste Nathan J. Coe
Solid
Waste Reduction Through Composting
Environmental Ethics
Fall 2004
I. The Problem
According to Gary Gardner, Erik Assadourian, and Radhika Sarin, in their essay “The State of Consumption Today”, from The World Watch Institutes’ “State of the World 2004: Special Focus, The Consumer Society”, the average resident of an OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) member nation “generates 560 kilos of municipal waste per year, with Americans far exceeding this figure, producing 51 percent more than average” (State of the World 16).
Today, over half of the existing landfills will be closed, either for environmental reasons or because they are full. We face an exigency in waste disposal primarily due to the fact that our nation landfills over 80% of our municipal garbage, or solid waste. As disposal costs increase, solid waste is transported farther and farther away from its’ source.
Downsizing and divesting lifestyles will be necessary to ensure and secure a pristine, living and healthy planet for future generations to inherit. Personal engagement and real participation on the part of all individuals is and will continue to be necessary, despite our apparent inability to dispose of the tired rhetoric of “what difference can one person make?”
We must abolish our preconditioned societal assumptions of disempowerment, disenfranchisement, and inaction. Many basic and rudimentary forms of cradle-to-cradle regeneration are available to laypersons, the most well known and widely employed being recycling and composing efforts. The potential evolutionary track of such innovation points towards a zero-waste system where all outputs are used as inputs elsewhere within an integrated and holistic natural system of systems, a truly “living” system.
II. The Situation
At Fort Lewis College, in the town of Durango, Colorado – according to a previous solid waste report from 1999, solid waste is first hauled to a weigh station where it is measured, which then translates into a per pound cost to the college. Waste is then hauled and landfilled in Farmington, NM at a transport cost of $191 per dumpster, regardless of dumpster size or volume of waste. Reducing volume and weight of solid waste can thus reduce weigh station costs but will not alleviate the more significant costs of transportation to the landfill. The waste costs to the college are not segregated into transportation costs and landfill costs, rendering it very difficult to calculate the volume of waste produced, which could then be compared to volume of biodegradables, non-biodegradables, and recyclable materials.
As local and global communities come to terms with our present situation, we are forced to consider alternative options, including increased recycling and composting efforts, but also with less publicized alternatives such as waste-to-energy incinerators and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) plants. These options all involve significant hidden costs and often, controversial social and political decisions.
In a previous 1999 report and analysis of campus solid waste disposal policies, campus ecologists Ben Tinsman and Christine Fulton reported being informed by River Rock Café general manager Dave Peterson that the café disposes of food waste, excluding chicken bones of very hard items, through a garbage disposal which is then thrown directly into the trash. The food disposal system is a large incinerator which grounds food waste and releases it into the sewage system, which is then chemically treated and released into the Animas River marine habitat. The sub-chub downstairs snack bar, however, reportedly uses disposable flat ware and plates, which are all thrown directly into the garbage. They report that the use of disposables is intended for the convenience of the customer rather than their own.
It is reported that neither food service provider donates unused food to the community, nor to the homeless population, claiming in the report that all edible food is consumed by the school. One might wonder what substantiality there is to this claim.
When Ben and Christine asked Dave Peterson why the college does not compost ‘green’ food scraps, her replied that such a service is simply not yet available on campus. Small projects undertaken by other students have met with failure in the face of the sheer volume of the task, leading Ben and Christine to conclude that reasonable funding and significant planning must be in place, though they fail to surmise what such funding and planning might entail.
In the past, Waste Management has proven unwilling to answer specific questions related to solid waste output studies, such as per pound charges, landfill size, and material incineration. As no other waste hauling and disposal services are available in our area, it proves difficult to measure whether the prices charged by Waste Management are competitive. Previous studies conclude that FLC has “no choice but to utilize the services that are available”.
In the report from 1999, it is reported and concluded that the amount of solid waste produced on campus has declined at approximately 5% per year during the previous four years, partially accredited to the recycling bailer purchased in 1995-96.
Dorms are charged a flat fee for disposal, rather than a more progressive fee by volume. Composting projects have been undertaken in the past by the Sustainable Agriculture class in the permaculture plot, an important point of collaboration in any independently organized and supplied effort.
III. Composting Biodegradable Waste
Self-constructed or factory-made composters are an easy and effective method of solid waste volume reduction and re-incorporation of vital nutrients and elements into the natural ecosystem, such as carbon, phosphorus, and nitrogen. Compost becomes nutrient-rich soil for gardening and landscaping purposes, increasing water retention and helping break up heavy clay soils, for example, potentially saving money or resources if utilized effectively. Composting also helps reduce personal and collective output volume of land-filled solid waste, conserves water by increasing water holding capacity of soils, can replace the need for harsh chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and increases plant growth and health by returning nutrients to the soil. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste, other beneficial effects of compost include re-mediation of soils contaminated by hazardous waste and remove solids, oil, grease, and heavy metals from storm-water runoff, and capture and destroy 99.6 percent of industrial volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) in contaminated air.
An astounding portion of society’s massive amount of land-filled solid waste output is vegetable matter and other biodegradable materials, and micro-fauna conditions in landfills render rates of biodegrading in landfills almost non-existent. Composters range from cheap and self-made to expensive and factory molded models. Containment bins are not necessary, but aesthetically beneficial. Compost heaps or piles, however, are just as effective. Advanced passive solar and cold weather industrial composters can be purchased for significant sums of money, often several thousand dollars, and are not necessarily worth the cost. *[Several compact, adaptable, easy to build, and minimally material intensive designs are provided in Appendix A.]*
IV. Independent Autonomous Action & By-passing the Establishment
The Institutional Establishment needs only to provide cooperation and facilitation when installing, implementing, and utilizing infrastructural hardware such as multiple refuse bins for separating biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. Independent and passionately active community members, students, faculty and staff can provide the necessary skills, supplies, and labor necessary to accomplish and maintain an operating composting system.
The excess waste and excrement of society provides ample material resources needed to construct such a system, at little to no cost at all, limited only by the creativity of those involved. Dumpsters and construction site waste heaps provide a plethora of second-generation construction supplies that would otherwise be landfilled, of which there is certainly no shortage in our area, providing an alternative resource that allows us to make use of the waste of an already terminally over-productive extractive system, for free. *[Several compact, adaptable, easy to build, and minimally material intensive designs are provided in Appendix A.]*
Students and the community should be capable of finding their own ethical motives, autonomous from the establishment, to undertake such a project. As an advocate of independent autonomous action, I choose to encourage people to liberate themselves from the systemic constrains of any limiting establishment or institution. Acting independently and autonomously eliminates all barriers and accountability to regulatory bodies. If people are serious and passionate about undertaking projects such as composting, we will come together and accomplish our goals. Practical and effectual composting systems can be installed and implemented at no cost to the institution, limited, again, only by the creativity and dedication of those involved. Once effectually established, composting systems require very little attention and maintenance.
Appendix A
• Wooden-Pallet Holding Unit
One easy way to build a simple and
effective compost bin is to use four wooden shipping pallets and tie them
together. A holding unit can be built inexpensively using wooden pallets or
lumber may be used to make a nicer looking bin.
Many
retail outlets will allow you to reclaim the discarded pallets for use at
home. Used pallets are often available from manufacturers and landfills. After
placing the four pallets upright to form your square bin, tie the four corners
with rope, wire or chain. You can sew a fifth as a floor inside your bin to
increase airflow and stability.
Building a holding Unit Wooden Pallets
1. Nail or wire four pallets together to make a four sided bin at least 3 feet x 3 feet x 3 feet. The bin is ready to use.
2. A fifth pallet can be used as a base to allow more air to get into the pile and increase the stability of the bin.
Building A Holding Unit Using Lumber
1. Saw the 8-foot lengths of 2 x 4 lumber into four pieces, each 4 feet long, to be used as corner posts.
2. Choose a 3-foot-square site for your compost bin. Use the sledge hammer to pound the four posts into the ground 3 feet apart, at the corners of the square.
3. Saw each of the 12-foot boards into four 3-foot pieces. Allowing five boards to a side and, starting at the bottom, nail the boards to the posts to make a four sided container. Leave 2 inches between the boards to allow air to get into the pile.
4. If you wish to decrease your composting time, build a second holding unit so that the wastes in one can mature while you add wastes to the other.
Materials
* four wooden pallets (five pallets if you want a bottom in the container), sized to make a four-sided container at least 3 feet x 3 feet x 3 feet.
* nails
* baling wire
or
* two eight-foot lengths of 2 x 4 lumber
* galvanized 8d nails (1 pound)
Tools
* saw
* sledge hammer
* claw hammer
* work gloves
• Snow-Fence Holding Unit
Wood or plastic snow fence (or chicken
wire) can be used to make a composter that is cheap and very easy to set up.
If you want to turn the pile, you can remove the fence, set it up beside the
first pile, and turn the compost into the newly set up bin. Simply make a
circle out of the fence and tie it with metal wire to a couple of posts.
Building a Snow-Fence Holding Unit
1. Choose a 3-foot-square site for your holding unit and pound the four wooden or metal posts into the ground 3 feet apart at the corners of the square.
2. Cut the heavy wire into lengths for ties. Attach the snow fence to the outside of the posts with wire ties using pliers.
3. Attach the ends of the snow fence together in the same way, forming a 3-foot-square enclosure.
Materials
* four wooden or metal posts, 4-5 feet long (use pressure-treated lumber for the wooden posts.)
* Heavy wire for ties
* a 13-foot length of snow fencing, at least 3 feet tall (a 16-foot length with optional top)
Tools
* heavy-duty wire or tin snips
* pliers
* sledge hammer
*
work gloves
• Wire-Mesh Holding Unit
A wire-mesh holding unit is inexpensive and easy to build out of either galvanized chicken wire or hardware cloth (non galvanized chicken wire can also be used, but will not last very long). Posts provide more stability for a chicken wire bin, but make the bin more difficult to move. A wire-mesh bin made without posts is easy to lift and provides access to the compost that is already "done" at the bottom of the pile while the compost at the top of the pile is still decomposing.
Building a Wire-Mesh Holding Unit Using Chicken Wire
1. Fold back 3 to 4 inches of the wire at each end of the cut piece to provide a strong, clean edge that will not poke or snag and that will be easy to latch.
2. Stand the wire in a circle and set it in place for the compost pile.
3. Cut the heavy wire into lengths for ties. Attach the ends of the chicken wire with the wire tags, using pliers.
4. Space wood or metal posts around the inside of the chicken-wire circle. Holding the post tightly against the wire, pound them firmly into the ground to provide support.
Building a Wire-Mesh Holding Unit Using Hardware Cloth
1. Trim the ends of the hardware cloth so that the wires are flush with a cross wire to get rid of the edges that could poke or scratch hands. Lightly file each wire along the cut edge to ensure safe handling when opening and closing the bin.
2. Bend the hardware cloth into a circle and stand it in place for the compost pile.
3. Cut the heavy wire into lengths for ties. Attach the ends of the hardware cloth with the wire ties using pliers.
Materials
* at least a 10-foot length of 36-inch-wide 1-inch galvanized chicken wire
or
* at least a 10-foot length of 1/2-inch-wide hardware cloth (note:the maximum bin diameter for a given length of chicken wire is the length of chicken wire divided by 3.14.)
* heavy wire ties
* three or four 4-foot-tall wooden or metal posts (for chicken wire bin.)
Optional material for lid
* at least a 3-foot additional length of 36-inch-wide, 1/2-inch hardware cloth
Tools
* heavy-duty wire or tin snips
* pliers
* hammer (for chicken bin)
* metal file (for hardware cloth bin)
* work gloves
• Wood-and-Wire Three-Bin Turning Unit
A wood and wire three-bin turning unit can be used to compost large amounts of yard, garden, and kitchen wastes in a short time. Although relatively material-intensive to build, it's sturdy, attractive and should last a long time. With a little time and effort, all materials required in it's construction can be obtained from dumpsters, landfills, and constructions site waste heaps. Otherwise, the materials can be purchased at minimal cost. Construction requires basic carpentry skills and tools. With optional lids and bottom, this unit can be made rodent-resistant.
Building a Wood-and-Wire Three-Bin System
1. Cut two 31 1/2-inch and two 36-inch pieces from a 12-foot length of 2x4 lumber. Butt-joint and nail the four pieces into a 35-inch x 36-inch "square" Repeat, building three more frames with the remaining 12-foot lengths 2x4 lumber.
2. Cut four 37-inch lengths of hardware cloth. Fold back the edges of the wire 1 inch. Stretch the pieces of the hardware cloth across each frame. Make sure the corners of each frame are square and then staple the screen tightly into place every 4 inches around the edge. The wood-and-wire frames will be dividers in your composter.
3. Set two dividers on end, 9 feet apart and parallel to one another. Position the other two dividers so that they are parallel to and evenly spaced between the end dividers. Place the 36-inch edges on the ground. Measure the position of the centres of the two inside dividers along each 9-foot edge.
4. Cut a 9-foot piece from each 10-foot length of 2x4 lumber. Place the two treated boards across the tops of the dividers so that each is flush against the outer edges. Measure and mark on the 9-foot boards the center of each inside divider.
5. Line up the marks and and through each junction of board and divider, drill a 1/2-inch hole centred 1 inch from the edge. Secure the boards with carriage bolts, but do not tighten them yet. Turn the unit so that the treated boards are on the bottom.
6. Cut one 9-foot piece from the 10-foot length of construction-grade 2x4 lumber. Attach the board to the back of the top by repeating the process used to attach the base boards. Using the carpenter's square or measuring between opposing corners, make sure the bin is square. Tighten all the bolts securely.
7. Fasten a 9-foot length of hardware cloth to the back side of the bin, with staples every 4 inches around the frame.
8. Cut four 36-inch-long pieces from the 16-foot length of 2x6 lumber for front runners(save the remaining 4-foot length).Rip-cut two of these boards to two 4 3/4-inch-wide strips. (Save the two remaining strips.)
9. Nail the 4 3/4-inch-wide stripes to the front of the outside dividers and baseboard so that they are flush on the top and the outside edges. Centre the two remaining 6-inch wide boards on the front of the inside dividers.
10. Cut the remaining 4-foot length of 2x6 lumber into a 34-inch-long piece and then rip-cut this piece into four equal strips. Trim the two strips saved from the step number eight to 34 inches. Nail each 34-inch strip to the insides of the dividers so that they are parallel to, and 1 inch away from, the boards attached to the front . This creates a 1-inch vertical slot on the inside of each divider.
11. Cut the six 8-foot lengths of 1x6 lumber into
eighteen slats, each 31 1/4 inches long. Insert the horizontal slats, six per
bin, between the drivers and the vertical slots.
12. (Optional)Cut the 4x8 foot sheet of exterior plywood into 3x3 foot pieces. Cut the 4x4 foot sheet of the exterior plywood into one 3x3 foot piece on one of the three bins and attach each to the back, top board with two hinges.
13. (Optional) For complete rodent protection, cut sheet metal to fit bottoms of bins.
14. Stain all untreated wood.
Materials
* four 12-foot lengths of 2x4 lumber
* two 10-foot lengths of 2x4 lumber
* one 10-foot length of construction grade 2x4 lumber
* one 16-foot length of 2x6 lumber
* six 8-foot lengths of 1x6 lumber
* a 22-foot length of 36-inch-wide 1/2-inch hardware cloth
* 16d galvanized nails(2 pounds)
* poultry wire staples (250)
* twelve 1/2 inch carriage bolts, 4 inches long, with washers and nuts
* one quart wood preservative or stain
Optional materials - for the lids and bottom
* one 4x8 foot sheet of 12-inch exterior plywood
* one 4x4 foot sheet of 1 2-inch exterior plywood
* six 3-inch zinc-plated hinges
* twenty-four 3/16 inch galvanized steel bolts, with washers and nuts
* sufficient galvinized sheet metal to cover bottom of bins
Tools
* tape measure
* hand saw or circular power saw
* hammer
* tin snips
* carpenter's square
* drill with 3/16-inch and 1/2 inch bits
* screwdriver
* adjustable wrench
* pencil
* safety glasses, ear protection, dust mask, and work gloves
Source: http://www.rrfb.com/pages/Secondary%20pages/Complan.html
Appendix
B.
(NOT TO SCALE)
TERMS:
