The University is getting a little greener with the help of rancid produce and poultry excrement.
Composting efforts have been largely educational thus far. The W.A. Callegari Environmental Center, a division of the LSU AgCenter, composts for research and education, said William Carney, associate professor and head of the center. For example, the center educated prisons on how to cut costs by composting, Carney said.
But for Carl Motsenbocker, horticulture professor, and Steven Hall, biological and agricultural engineering associate professor, it’s not enough. The two submitted a proposal to the Board of Regents to increase composting research and education that resulted in a pilot project in 2009.
“We want to become a research center and to teach others how to compost,” Motsenbocker said.
The main hurdle is currently logistics. Students in Horticulture 4012, one of Motsenbocker’s special-projects classes, are working on these problems, which include method, location and funding.
Amanda McWhirt, agronomy graduate student and a student in the class, is determining the feasibility of composting as a campus operation.
“It’s feasible, but we want to start small and use it as a teaching tool,” McWhirt said.
Composting, an important part of sustainability, started on campus in 2008 as one of the first environmental initiatives of the University, said Denise Scribner, campus sustainability manager.
“It’s important because it benefits many departments,” Scribner said.
One option for on-campus composting uses a large machine, called “in-vessel,” which can be placed anywhere on campus. Carney is in favor of this method for campus because it’s a closed and regulated system. But it’s expensive — an in-vessel project would exceed $500,000, McWhirt said.
Open-air composting, which the Callegari Center uses, is more cost-effective than in-vessel. The project would only cost about $100,000, Motsenbocker said.
However, it also takes more time to turn waste into anything usable — open-air composting takes a few months, while the in-vessel method only takes a few days.
Location is another problem. An open-air compost on campus would require about four acres of land, McWhirt said.
The real goal, however, is to promote composting institutionally, Motsenbocker said. The Callegari Center is one resource, but while it does do large-scale composting, it can’t handle the demands of the University, Carney said.
“The University needs too much composting all the time — it’s too frequent,” Carney said.
Regardless of the solution, composting has clear benefits. Instead of paying waste fees and filling landfills, waste can instead stay on campus and be composted, Carney said. It also cuts down on cost because the end product can be used as soil amendment, which the University would otherwise have to purchase.
“Mother Nature already does it, so why not us, too?” Carney said.
The initial investment might be substantial, but the return is huge and would be sustained over many years, Motsenbocker said.
“It would save money and lead to a greener campus. The bottom line is that it’s something we can do, so we should be,” Motsenbocker said.
The push, however, to institute campus-wide composting is up to the students, McWhirt said.
“We need student support and participation — it’s just a class right now,” McWhirt said.
Jenny Byrd, president of the Environmental Conservation Organization at LSU, a student sustainability group, said composting is a huge initiative for the group and something the University should have done long ago. In addition to helping advance the initiative, ECO will help educate students, Byrd said.
“It would be an amazing leap in the right direction,” Byrd said.
 
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Contact Logan Leger at [email protected]