{"632437":{"#nid":"632437","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Housing, Dining Expand Composting Efforts","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThis spring, Dining Services launched composting programs in Brittain and North Avenue Dining Halls, and Housing and Residence Life distributed composting bins to three residence halls \u0026mdash; Hopkins and the two Grand Challenges (GC) Living Learning Communities dorms, Howell and Cloudman \u0026mdash; to assess the feasibility of implementing a composting program for all East Campus housing. Composting bins already exist at the North Avenue Apartments, Graduate Living Center, and 10\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E and Home Apartments.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGrand Challenges student assistants Madison Reddic and Ramsey Cook helped initiate the program after meeting with Malte Weiland, senior sustainability project manager for Auxiliary Services.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There\u0026rsquo;s already a lot of progress being made in composting on Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s campus,\u0026rdquo; Cook said. \u0026ldquo;The first step is rolling out opportunities for interested students to compost. If the entire campus community composted, we could drastically reduce our impact on global warming.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo compost, students simply collect their \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/compostnow.org\/compostables\/\u0022\u003Ecompostable waste\u003C\/a\u003E, either in their room or the common area kitchen, and empty it into the black compost collection bins closest to their residence hall. They can use any type of container to collect the compost waste, and those who want to use compostable containers can contact a Residence Life staff member.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAdditionally, staff members at Brittain, North Avenue, and the Student Center will now be sorting and extracting compostable materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBoth Housing and Dining have partnered with \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/compostnow.org\/\u0022\u003ECompostNow\u003C\/a\u003E, an organization that assists businesses and individuals in diverting waste from landfills into composting. The material resulting from East Campus food waste will be returned to the Georgia Tech community garden and delivered to area farms by CompostNow to replenish nutrient content naturally.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince September, the three major dining halls and Student Center have diverted more than 129,000 pounds of waste from landfills and into composting centers. The Student Center led the way, with over 38,000 pounds collected both from its day-to-day operations and various catering events.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is just one step in our fight against food waste,\u0026rdquo; said Jordan Barron, sustainability director for Georgia Tech Dining Services.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDining wants to continue to expand its composting program, including making all food and containers from the second-floor West Village micro-restaurants compostable and adding signage in both Brittain and North Avenue. The signs will describe the composting process and explain its benefits for the environment and the people who receive the recycled material.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, Housing is hoping to expand its composting program to West Campus residences.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We want to help make this a normal practice for students, and hopefully they will take some of that with them when they leave campus,\u0026rdquo; said Weiland.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDining and Housing both have open-door policies when it comes to composting. Students are encouraged to ask about the impact that each department\u0026rsquo;s program has had on campus and the environment. CompostNow also offers residential services for anyone living off-campus who\u0026rsquo;s looking to start composting on their own.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo learn more about Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s composting programs and other campus sustainability initiatives, visit:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/sustain.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EThe Office of Campus Sustainability\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/recycle.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EThe Office of Solid Waste Management and Recycling\u003C\/a\u003E, including its 2017 \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.recycle.gatech.edu\/composting-pilot-program\u0022\u003Ecomposting pilot program\u003C\/a\u003E in the Engineered Biosystems Building.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/sls.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EServe-Learn Sustain\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EComposting is now available at any east campus residence, as well as the three major dining halls and Student Center.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Composting is now available at any east campus residence, as well as the three major dining halls and Student Center."}],"uid":"34946","created_gmt":"2020-02-13 18:53:29","changed_gmt":"2020-02-17 17:19:38","author":"gwyner3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-02-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-02-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"632438":{"id":"632438","type":"image","title":"Brittain Composting Bins","body":null,"created":"1581620236","gmt_created":"2020-02-13 18:57:16","changed":"1581622379","gmt_changed":"2020-02-13 19:32:59","alt":"Black composting bin located near the dumpsters behind Brittain Dining Hall.","file":{"fid":"240628","name":"brittain_bins.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/brittain_bins.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/brittain_bins.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":936597,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/brittain_bins.JPG?itok=nV6mbAKX"}}},"media_ids":["632438"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"64319","name":"Administration and Finance"},{"id":"594724","name":"Office of Sustainability"},{"id":"383831","name":"Facilities Management"},{"id":"462651","name":"Housing"},{"id":"624949","name":"Recycling Facilities"},{"id":"499601","name":"Campus Services"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"175824","name":"composting"},{"id":"166890","name":"sustainability"},{"id":"22501","name":"Department of Housing"},{"id":"310","name":"Georgia Tech Dining Services"},{"id":"183955","name":"CompostNow"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:stucomm@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGrace Wyner\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}