USD sustainability efforts lack clarity
The institution must be held accountable for ‘green’ claims
Maria Simpson / Opinion Editor / The USD Vista
The Student Life Pavilion (SLP) is a place that all USD students know well. Thanks to several large signs on display, students are aware that their food scraps can be left on plates when finished eating, as USD has a functioning compost machine that will reduce the waste from the hundreds of students who go through Pavilion Dining each day. At least, that is what USD claims.
I recently learned that this is not currently the case. After hearing rumors that the SLP compost machine is out of order from students and SLP employees alike, I decided to investigate myself. I began asking SLP employees about the situation, starting with a supervisor for Pavilion Dining, Judy Carmenas.
“We don’t currently have [a compost machine] because it is being worked on, but we do have it,” Carmenas stated. She also said that the machine had been broken for “maybe three weeks” at the time of the interview, which was conducted Sept. 15.
Julio Hernandez, an SLP employee of 31 years, also affirmed that the compost machine is currently undergoing repairs.
“The machine we used to have broke. We’re planning to get another one, but we don’t know when.” However, when asked how long that machine has been out of order, his answer was very different from Carmenas’. Hernandez stated that it has been broken for “six months to a year.”
I was shocked and confused. This whole time I left all my food waste on my dishes, thinking that I was making an effort to reduce waste, when really I was unknowingly leaving an extra mess for SLP employees to deal with. And so have hundreds of other students, due to the fact that apparently no one is being made aware of this situation.
The next step was to approach the administrative level with these same questions. USD public relations connected me with Loryn Johnson, the Marketing and Licensing Director for Auxiliary Services, who provided me with an in-depth statement on the current compost machine situation. This statement only made the story more inconsistent and confusing.
“The former Biohitech Digester machine utilized by the SLP no longer met the City of San Diego’s new waste processing requirements, so a new ‘dry’ digester was ordered this past spring (the Harp CX2). It is being manufactured, and we anticipate it to be in place by November. In the interim, we utilize food waste services by Waste Management of San Diego. They come and pick up the food scraps (that come from the campus dining locations) and the scraps are composted.”
The lack of clarity about composting in the SLP is only the tip of the iceberg.
USD made a number of claims focused on the university’s efforts to create a more sustainable campus, but I am afraid that many of those claims currently lie in murky waters. If USD is going to talk the talk, they also need to walk the walk, transparently. Otherwise, we are witnessing a blatant disregard of our obligations toward the environment.
Arguably, the most grandiose display of USD’s sustainability plan is the Climate Action Plan (CAP) developed in November 2016. CAP builds a vague framework of areas to focus on and goals to meet by 2020 and 2035. Unfortunately, we (as students, at least) cannot be certain that USD is staying true to these set goals. As previously stated, CAP was drawn up in 2016 and has not been updated since. The framework within the plan is also incredibly vague. No concrete action items are listed as solutions to meet the university’s desired goals.
On page 41, CAP states, “To monitor progress of the CAP, it is necessary to collect data on a regular basis, typically every one to two years.” After digging through USD’s sustainability website, no such standardized data collection was found, save the pointless trivia facts that decorate the website.
This lack of tracking includes data on food waste. USD does not keep any record of the food waste being produced on campus. At least none that is accessible to students or members of the public. Johnson stated, “I am unaware of any tracking that is done elsewhere on campus. The former Biohitech machine utilized in SLP Dining did have reports on how much food it processed. The new digester will also have those capabilities.”
John Alejandro, the Director of Sustainability, did offer some explanation of the lack of follow up with CAP. “Since coming on board as USD’s new Sustainability Director this past August, one of my priorities is to bring the Climate Action Plan up to date, given that many programs and projects came to a standstill during COVID-19. I’ll be working with Dr. Michel Boudrias [Chair of the university’s Sustainability Task Force] and others throughout the campus to reinvigorate all aspects of the plan so that we can continue moving the campus toward achieving its sustainability goals.”
One environmental issue on campus that needs concrete solutions and accurate tracking is food waste. According to Harvard’s The Nutrition Source, “Decomposing food waste produces methane, a strong greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. Worldwide, one-third of food produced is thrown away uneaten, causing an increased burden on the environment.” This fact is startling to say the least.
In 2016, USD set their Zero Waste policy with a goal to divert 60% of food waste away from landfills by 2020. The USD Zero Waste Event Guide explains, “Zero waste is an initiative that strives to reduce and eventually eliminate trash sent to landfills and incinerators.” It also explains that this goal is to be achieved through various campus initiatives, such as campus composting. USD’s sustainability website explains that “dining areas contain pre-consumer composting [composting waste that is produced prior to its consumption] sections, while community composting takes place at [the School of Leadership and Education Sciences] SOLES.”
I further explored these concrete claims that USD makes; I could only locate regular trash and recycling bins at SOLES, even after walking around the entire premise. Alejandro responded to my inquiry about where this community composting can be located.“Dining are the only ones doing composting on campus at this time,” he stated briefly.
Da’Keith Howard, a custodial employee at Bert’s Bistro who I discussed recycling with, answered bluntly, “I don’t believe so,” when I asked if there was a compost machine within the facility. I also asked him if the dining location currently takes place in any form of waste recycling or composting, to which he responded, “not to my knowledge.”
At Aromas, student worker Aimee Barraza said, “I don’t think there’s a compost machine in this facility, but we do take the compost separately and make sure it goes somewhere else.” This answer showed a more promising effort than the previous one. I inquired more about the specific process Aromas follows. Barraza explained, “I just make sure that all of our coffee grinds go in this bucket and paper towels can go in there, too. Maybe banana peels. But there’s only one person that takes it out… before they transfer it somewhere else.” At least some pre-consumer composting seems to be taking place on campus.
However, when I moved on to speak to Tu Mercado clerk, Miguel Zamora, I was met with uncertainty once again. “I think so. I’m not sure,” Zamora said about Tu Mercado composting.
There seems to be an overall confusion and lack of clear vision in sustainability efforts within campus dining. I find this very problematic. If workers aren’t aware of composting policies, that is just as bad as having no compost machine at all, since it is not being carried out.
There are claims about community composting, waste recycling in every dining facility and the reasons for no current composting in the SLP, but the answers to each question are all over the place. There should be clarity in USD’s green activity and better communication for employees and students, so we can all participate in sustainability to the best of our ability.
USD’s peer universities seem to be ahead of USD in their effort to recycle waste. Gonzaga University’s “Rethink Waste” page has a Waste Collection Report which is updated by year and indicates how much of each kind of waste (trash, recycling and compost) was collected each month and from what locations, something that Johnson confirmed USD does not do. This is the kind of transparency I believe USD should have with their students and even the general public. I also believe that more effort from USD is desired by many students. There is an active petition on change.org with just over 500 signatures to add a composting facility to USD’s campus. Clearly true effort toward sustainability is a student want that is not being realized right now.
What is USD actively doing to promote sustainability on campus? There is some effort to be environmentally conscious. The reusable to-go containers in the SLP known as Ozzi boxes, Sustain-a-bottle (a push for students to use reusable water bottles when dining on campus), Disabled Veterans of America collection bins, a variety of online resources educating students on personal sustainability, and a multitude of student organizations focused on helping the environment all prove that USD is dedicated to doing their part for the environment.
Alejandro shared that the “grounds crew composts virtually 100% of organic waste generated on campus, the only exception being palm fronds, which are not compostable (as we understand it).” However, the key factor is that almost all of these efforts rely on students to take responsibility, or they are initiated by students in the first place, which is a great look for USD students but not so much for the institution itself.
This should not only be a student effort, but an institutional effort. Sustainability is an ongoing effort to reduce waste, recycle and watch the impact you are making on the environment. In order to accomplish this, USD needs to reinvigorate its efforts and communicate to faculty, staff and students what procedures are in place and the current stats and conditions of sustainability efforts on campus. Otherwise, USD’s movement toward a greener campus feels dishonest and lackluster.