By Nikki Nelsen
To celebrate Earth Week, Associated Students Inc. and Sustain U offered a presentation on the benefits of composting Tuesday.
Composting 101 was presented in the University Student Union and taught students about how the campus composts, the benefits of composting and how it can be done at home.
At the event, students learned about living a more sustainable life and decreasing their ecological footprint.
“Composting is part of being more sustainable,” said Cindy Tseng, a member of Sustain U. “You’re not only looking at the environment but also the plants growth and the human interest as well.”
The presentation also taught LBSU students who do not have access to their own garden how they can compost and decrease their ecological footprint on campus. Sustain U has a variety of compost bins in the university dining hall and in front of the bookstore.
All three modules were created with students in mind and could be completed in about 40 minutes with each individual module lasting about 10 to 15 minutes.
Students that attended all three modules were entered into a contest to win their own composting bin. Students also received stainless steel reusable straws and cardboard pens to those who stayed the whole time. While some students were already active recyclers and composters that were interested in learning more, other students were just getting started.
“I am trying to learn more. I tried to do composting but my landlord is not okay with it, so I try to save my food waste, egg shells, banana peels and all that stuff and then I would just blend it in the blender to add it to the soil,” Venus Chen said. She brings her own stainless steel drinking straws along with stainless steel forks and knives in a pouch she sewed herself to school daily.
Sustain U was formed by ASI to improve environmental sustainability on campus by raising awareness and adopting the best sustainability practices. One goal of Sustain U is to switch all “back of house” composting that happens on campus and convert it to a “front of house” program that would allow students to compost their waste.
“‘Front of house’ composting starts with you guys, just like composting and Sustain U started on campus,” Daniel Pierce USU Sustainability Assistant said.
