Food scraps no longer trash

There's no need to trash those leftover food scraps;  students can let the worms do the job at the Student Union.

Composting is part of the Union's green initiative program, Black, Gold & Green. The Union has been recycling and saving money on electric and water for years, but in February, it started Black, Gold & Green as a marketing campaign to keep students, faculty and staff aware of the initiatives.

Although the worms will not eat the compost from the entire Student Union, it is part of an experimental process, according to Rick Falco, associate director of the Student Union.

This composting technique serves dual purposes. It will keep trash from being dumped into a landfill and the worms' excrement will be turned into organic fertilizer, Falco said.

"I think that everybody loves the fact that we're going to be composting," Falco said. "You just kind of have the typical reaction: worms."

Victoria Proetsch, a freshman modern language student, had that type of reaction.

"Ew, disgusting," she said. "But I know that composting is a good way to recycle."

Students can find the composting sites in new green bins locataed by Wackadoo's and Corner Cafe´.

Beside the compost, two other recycling bins were added for glass bottles and aluminum cans.

Martha Melendez, Student Union information supervisor and a senior sociology student, said this addition has been well-received by students. Melendez said if the green bins are successful, they will replace all of the black bins, which only have slots for paper, plastic and trash.

Recycling on campus is fairly new. When Melendez started at UCF in 2005, there were no bins, she said. She recycles at home, and before UCF started its program, Melendez said she saved everything in her backpack and took it home.

Working at the information desk in the Union gives her a good view of students' recycling tendencies. Melendez said people like the big plastic bin by the Pegasus logo.

"The novelty draws people to it," she said.

Proetsch is impressed with the recycling.

"I think it's great to take the initiative where it is visible," she said.

The big plastic bin is one of the additions to the Student Union that began when the Black, Gold & Green program started.

"Its sustainability tied in with being UCF-oriented," Falco said. While the Union has been "green" for years, the programs are all now unified into one campaign.

It's one thing to have the time to do the initiatives, but it's another thing to have the time to market it, said Falco. "While we might have been doing a lot of things, it's like a whole other job to tell people what you're doing," Falco said.

That's where Student Union marketing and sustainability coordinator Adam Giery comes in.

"We try to start new initiatives here and then take them around campus," Giery said. "The Union is a great testing site because it sees 30,000 to 40,000 students a day," he said.

Other programs currently in place in the Union are designed to decrease electric and water usage. LED lighting has saved about $70,000 a year to date, Giery said, which already surpassed the $10,000 projected savings.

The LED lighting has no fuse and produces no heat. It lasts for 7.5 years, whereas fluorescent bulbs only last a couple.

In August, water-free urinals were implemented. Gier said the reason is because urine is 97 percent water.

"We generally use 1.3 to 1.5 gallons [of water] to flush it," Giery said. "Now how does that make sense? Water-free urinals are not only cleaner, but more sustainable."

Out of 17 urinals, only two are water-free; one on the first floor and another on the third, Falco said. Another type of urinal is set to arrive this week. A one-eighth gallon urinal will be put on the second or third floor, he said.

Falco said that right now, these are all just in testing stages to see what will be the best fit for the Union. One issue with water-free urinals is that the filters must be changed frequently and each costs $30 to $40.

"It's fine to spend a little bit of money to save water," Falco said, "But it's not fine to spend a lot of money to save a little bit of water."

The main concern is the first floor because of traffic, but the second and third floor urinals have fewer flushes, so Falco said this issue is not a deal breaker.

The Union also saves water from its water bottle refill stations located on every pair of water fountains.

Falco said the main advantages of the stations are that they are more convenient to use than the fountains, and they have an extra filter. Plus, refilling bottles cuts back on buying bottles.

Currently, the Student Union is the only place to have all these initiatives, but Student Development  and Enrollment Services is compiling a report of its 42 departments to see what is being done elsewhere, Falco said.

Once the report is finished, other initiatives will begin, he said. Examples are motion detecting light switches and computer properties set to the right energy saving settings, Falco said.

"These are changes that had to be made," Giery said. "So we either make them now, or have to figure out more creative solutions down the way when these options aren't available."