Students in a horticulture class presented their suggestions Monday for increasing campus sustainability.
Students in HORT 4012, which studies campus sustainability, have been working on their proposals for the entire semester, said class adviser and LSU AgCenter professor Carl Motsenbocker.
Projects included a student-run farm, bicycle-sharing program, campus composting and the implementation of a wildlife habitat around the University.
Matt Wyatt, natural resource ecology and management junior involved with the student farm proposal, said the proposal would take four years from first discussions to implementation of the idea.
Wyatt said the farm would be stationed on Ben Hur Road in a five- to 10-acre field. The plan mentioned income from fresh produce, education opportunities and composting as benefits of an on-campus, student-run farm.
John Tracy, natural resource ecology and management junior, was involved with the proposed bike-share program. Tracy said riding bikes would decrease congestion associated with student drivers.
“The main focus was to set these rental stations on the outside of campus,” Tracy said.
Tracy said the plan would allow students to rent bikes with their Tiger Cards for free or a slight charge.
“The UREC has already shown interest in working with this,” Tracy said.
Amanda McWhirt, a graduate student working on her master’s degree in agronomy, contributed to the proposed University composting plan. Elizabeth Jenkins, working on her master’s degree in agricultural economics, and Elizabeth Hingle, a conservation of natural resources and ecology management junior, also worked on the composting plan.
McWhirt said she hopes to get approval for the plan within two years and to begin composting a year after the approval.
Jenkins said the University’s annual expenses for waste removal was around $115,000 and that composting would cost a one-time startup fee of about $52,000 and then an annual fee of $77,000.
“We are one of many people on campus who are pushing for this,” McWhirt said.
McWhirt said the LSU AgCenter’s W.A. Callegari Environmental Center is already composting on campus.
Student Government President Cody Wells said at the presentation that he and SG Vice President Kathleen Bordelon are interested and open to discussions about sustainability on campus and invited the class to discuss its proposals at an SG meeting.
Motsenbocker said he started the class after his composting proposal on campus failed to be implemented two years ago.
“I realized we had to engage the community and get students active,” Motsenbocker said.
 
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Contact Kevin Thibodeaux at [email protected]