Composting in Columbia University’s Morningside residence halls? Initial reactions might range from disgusted “eews” to disbelief.

But yes. Since February, 15 EcoReps have had composting bins in their suites to express their personal commitments to recycling and new on-campus ways to make it happen.

Kate Smith, CC ’09, says that since early in the academic year she and Ariel Zucker, CC ’09, wanted to start indoor composting. But they knew a successful effort involved more than placing worms in a plastic bin the size of a medium storage box.

So Smith contacted the Lower East Side Ecology Center that offers composting training to New York City residents and, in this case, a private session for Columbia’s EcoReps. Carey Pulverman, manager of the LESEC’s composting education classes, says the February workshop was the first she’s done on a city campus. Since then, she’s had a similar request from New York University.

While Smith was setting up training, Zucker, who’s a coordinator of the EcoReps, sought funding from the American Democracy Institute. The grant money paid for each participant’s bin and as, Smith describes it, 1000 worms in their “tiny little plastic bag.”

Under Pulverman’s tutelage, the EcoReps set up their vented bins by filling them with moistened one-inch strips of the New York Times – recommended because of its non-toxic ink. Then they placed the worms in the bins where, given an aversion to light, they burrowed into the paper.

Mackenzie Yang, CC ’11, is a John Jay resident who keeps her bin next to a window for ventilation. Though she says others were concerned at first about sanitation issues, there have been no problems. Yang describes the aroma as “very nice … like soil after a rain.”

She says her interest in recycling and wanting to try something new prompted her to get into composting.
For Rebecca Gerome, CC ’09, there’s always been composting in the backyard of her home in the suburbs of Paris. Gerome says now, however, she’s “curious to see how composting works in the city and the possibilities for that.” Gerome, an EcoRep at 47 Claremont Ave., has placed her bin under the sink in her residence and says “it’s a lot of work for a little bit of composting, but it’s worth exploring and seeing how it works.”

The “work” to which she refers consists of controlling what’s put into the bins, both in terms of amount and type. Fruit scraps can generate fruit flies; the worms don’t like oily or acidic foods; and foods that rot, such as meat, can create unpleasant odors. Gerome says she’s found that adding about three grams of food a week – mostly rice and vegetables, works well.

Yang says she put a bag next to her bin and asks other students to put their leftover veggies into it. To further capitalize on their interest, she puts out an informational brochure and encourages them to question her about the project.

“I look forward to making things reusable so we’re not wasting so much,” she says. “I also look forward to a sustainable campus where everything is recycled.”

EcoReps provided more information and a demonstration of the basics of composting on April 16 as part of an Earth Week program titled “Simple Things You Can Do for the Environment.”

An indoor composting cycle takes about three months. That means the EcoReps’ bins will be ready to empty for the first time just as the semester is winding down. Their hope is that the compost will be used in Columbia’s new Community Garden near Pupin Hall.