The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) held their annual Sustainability Week Jan. 11-13, which included a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a composting project led by the CU Biology Society.
“We are launching a whole new green bin program with the CU Biology Society,” said CUSA president Fahd Alhattab. “This is a huge step into creating a campus that is continuously sustainable and continuously green. We are one of the first student associations taking the lead on establishing a green bin program.”
Alhattab said three small bins will be located throughout Nesbitt Biology Building, with a larger bin outside.
The week hopes to create awareness of environmental issues—such as climate change—and did so by holding a panel discussion on the COP21 Paris Climate Agreement as well as a clothing drive, according to CUSA’s Facebook event page.
The discussion panel featured six different professionals speaking about both campus and city sustainability, focusing on how students can live a sustainable life.
“The university takes care of most of the sustainability . . . [CUSA’s] job is to push it forward,” Alhattab said. “Our job is to innovate, to try new ideas.”
Shira Schwartz, president of the CU Biology Society, said the composting initiative began with some research. After realizing the University of Ottawa was composting, the society thought it could be implemented at Carleton as well. From there, they started looking into logistics, such as which types of bins to use and whether they could use the compost or need to have it taken away.
“We were lucky enough that we are actually able to use the compost in our greenhouse, in our research buildings, and as well in our community gardens in the summer,” Schwartz said.
The main bin cost a little over $800, with the funding coming mainly from CUSA’s Sustainability Week, but also from fundraising efforts made by the CU Biology Society. The main bin is made out of galvanized steel, making it harder for animals to break into, as well as insulated so that compost can be created in the winter months.
Three smaller bins will be located in the Nesbitt Building, as well as the top floor of the Carleton Technology and Training Centre. The CU Biology Society has volunteers who will empty the bins.
Composting is a process that turns food waste—such as peels or table scraps—into organic material that can be used to grow plants. Using this compost bin requires including 10 per cent wood or carbon products in the mixture, as well as rotating the mixture each time new material is added, according to Schwartz.
“Hopefully other faculties will adopt our pilot project and see how easy and sustainable it is, and then eventually compost campus wide,” Schwartz said. “It would reduce so much waste, it would reduce so much landfills, and it is something that most people already do in their homes so it is not a strange concept.”
