Environmentally Friendly Earth Tub Hits Campus

Environmentally Friendly Earth Tub Hits Campus

BY DAVID KAPLAN
Rice News Staff
May 27, 1999

It was a Monday and not even noon, yet several members of the Rice community
had gathered behind the Jones College kitchen to break open champagne.

They toasted the Earth Tub, an impressive new composting machine that represents
a more environmentally-conscious attitude at Rice.

Housed outside the Jones College kitchen, the Earth Tub is a pilot program
designed to make the Rice campus more environmentally friendly by reducing the
amount of solid waste that Rice ships to the landfill while producing compost
which can then be used on campus as fertilizer, mulch, soil amendment and as
a control against some plant diseases.

Celebrants at the Earth Tub’s April "grand opening" included Ryan
McMullan ’98, an environmental intern who spearheaded the project; members of
the Environmental Program Steering Committee (EPSC), an interdisciplinary faculty
committee devoted to enhancing environmental research and study on campus; and
representatives from the departments of Food and Housing, Facilities and Engineering
and Jones College.

McMullan says that Earth Tub, which began its trial run this spring, is reducing
Jones’ kitchen waste by 75 percent. He expressed the hope that one day relatively
soon all Rice kitchens will have their own composting system.

Professor of English Walter Isle, chair of the EPSC, notes that there is an
emerging "greening the campus" movement across the country and projects
such as the Earth Tub "make us a part of it." Isle says he is grateful
to President Malcolm Gillis for supporting the project, in part by providing
the salary for McMullan’s internship.

The Earth Tub is an outgrowth of "LoveBake 302," a spring ’98 college
course designed to show that Rice is an environmental system and that the system
can be improved.

Each day during the spring semester Jones College students separated their
biodegradable plate scrapings into a garbage can that was later emptied into
the Earth Tub and mixed with yard waste from campus. Jones kitchen staffers
went through a similar procedure with their kitchen preparation waste. Jones
College students and staff tossed into the Earth Tub about 150 pounds of food
waste each day.

After the Earth Tub is filled, the compost is removed; it is stacked into a
pile to cure for about 30 days. After being cured, the compost–resembling rich,
moist soil–can be used to improve the soil quality. Most of the compost will
be used by Custodial Services and Groundskeeping.

Made in Vermont, the plastic Earth Tub contains an auger for mixing, a blower
for aerating the compost and a biofilter, all of which help to control odors.

EPSC Committee member Bill Leeman, professor of geology and geophysics, believes
that with projects like the Earth Tub, "We’re producing more than just
fertilizer. We’re also fertilizing the environmental ethic on campus."

EPSC is committed to bringing environment-enhancing projects such as the Earth
Tub to Rice. Says EPSC member Paul Harcombe, professor of ecology and evolutionary
biology: "Our goal is to produce more opportunities for students to become
involved with more environmental problem solving."

Two students are currently involved in Earth Tub-related projects: Lovett College
senior Angie Martindill is conducting a cost-benefit analysis to determine the
feasibility of a campus-wide compost operation, and Jones College senior Andy
Duryea is monitoring the composting process to improve its operation in Rice’s
particular conditions, including the Jones College community.

McMullan says that Leeman, Harcombe, Martindell and Duryea are among those
who offered core support to the project. Members of Jones College and the departments
of Food and Housing and Facilities and Engineering were also supportive, McMullan
says.