首页|Vermicomposting at a middle school campus: A cradle-to-cradle approach to food waste
Vermicomposting at a middle school campus: A cradle-to-cradle approach to food waste
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In this study, we assess the viability of a systematic cradle-to-cradle approach to food waste at an educational institution. Food waste is a major problem in America. An estimated 35 million tons of food ends up in landfills (EPA, 2013a), while simultaneously millions of Americans are facing food insecurities (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2014). In addition to the tons of food lost, food waste contributes to a number of environmental problems (Hall et al., 2009) and results in the loss of an enormous amount of natural and. economic resources (Gunders, 2012). A vermicomposting food waste diversion project at an academic institution has the potential to both divert the food waste of hundreds or thousands of students as well as be used as an environmental and nutrition education tool. We intend to develop a replicable model for handling food waste with the intent of promoting conservation and contributing to the cultivation of an environmentally conscious youth, while also reducing the environmental impacts related to food loss using vermicomposting. To assess the viability of our vermicomposting food waste project we consider the economic, educational, and environmental factors associated with the project. Thus far, we have diverted 4.7 kg of food/day of collection, produced .69 kg of worm castings/day of collection, and have logged over 50 hours of environmental and nutrition education.
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