Footprint Magazine: The Action Issue

what columbi

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footprintsustainable living on and off campusmagazine

The Action Issue

footprintmag.wordpress.com / spring 2012

footprint / spring 2012

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contentseditor’s letter

WELCOME!aking action is in my blood. My great-grandparents taught me that in order to make something happen, you have to do it yourself, so I surround myself with

individuals who believe the same thing. I’ve worked on political campaigns and in nonprofit groups. I have friends who work day and night for international conflict and diversity education. They inspire me to keep moving forward.

That’s why I’m incredibly honored to present Footprint Magazine’s Action Issue. These stories show how one person, or one initiative, or one recipe, can change a community for the better. Brice Hanberry gives her time, research and organizational efforts to protect the humble turtle, whose habitat has become fragmented by city development. Tigers for Community Agriculture volunteers grow food for no profit of their own, save for occasional heads of lettuces. And we want to give our readers the skills and knowledge to take action of their own, be it cooking with seasonal ingredients or repurposing their own furniture.

I credit one of my favorite quotes to Terry Tempest Williams: “To bear witness is not a passive act.” When our writers and photographers tell stories, they further environmental efforts in Mid-Missouri, and for that I could not feel more proud. –TINA CASAGRAND

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news briefsupdates on student

environmental leadershippage 5

recipeslocal and organic dishes to

tickle your tastebudspage 8

rice cookerthe humble appliance goes to

college, learns new trickspage 12

diy shoesupcycle canvas Toms and

upholstering chairspage 14

diy plantersputting tin cans and plastic cups to work on the farm

page 18

essaychallenging the notion that

Prius is green-supremepage 20

turtle crossingleading the charge of saving

Columbia’s turtlespage 24

cds compostingBradford Farm takes students’

leftovers to make soilpage 28

last wordSustain Mizzou’s year

in numberspage 31


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news briefs

footprint magazineThere’s no better time than college to explore nature, meet your community and become self sufficient. Footprint Magazine guides readers around natural and cultural hotspots in Columbia, teaches skills for practical living and encourages dialogue about sustainability issues. We go beyond writing articles about the environment; we help the environment become part of our readers’ own stories.

editors Tina Casagrand

Meghan Eldridge

contributing writers Cade Cleavelin

James Jordan

Miranda Metheney

Katie Miller

Kat Sealphotography

Briney Bischofdesign & illustration

Theresa Berens

about / staff

tigers for community Agriculture, Sustain Mizzou’s gardening group, sold 82 pounds of lettuce to Campus Dining Services in April. The journey from seed to students resulted entirely from student volunteer efforts.

In early February, the students started romaine lettuce, Swiss chard, leek, onion and broccoli seed in the campus green house. Volunteers then transplanted the sprouts into hoop houses at Bradford Farm and carpooled there to water it periodically. Using a drip-tape watering system, which waters at the roots, conserves water. There’s also a commercial benefit: “You don’t have water spots on the lettuce so it looks better when you try to sell them,” says Monica Everett, a project volunteer who has been with TCA since its inception in 2010. The

group also sold 60 pounds of greens to the University Club, a higher-end dining establishment at the Alumni Center.

Setting up the business plan was surprisingly simple: they asked CDS to buy their produce. “After marching into the kitchen offices of the Student Center (not knowing what we were doing), we brought [sous chef ] Jeremy out to the Ford Explorer,” says Kat Seal, project volunteer and former Sustain Mizzou president. “He looked at the lettuce and said, ‘we’d take it all.’”

TCA has other produce coming up for harvest, including peppers, spinach, carrots and tomatoes. They plan to sell it to the aforementioned businesses, as well as Centro Latino. All profit goes back to building the program and its assets. –TINA CASAGRAND

Student Ag Group Closes the Loopplanting seeds for student meals

WANT MORE FOOTPRINT?footprint magazine

@sustainmizzou

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news briefs

Environmental Leadership Office: new name, same mission

the office for student sustainability in the Center for Student Involvement recently changed its name to the Environmental Leadership Office. “There was a lot of confusion about who we were, so we created a more distinct identity and brand,” says Ben Datema, ELO coordinator. The office currently employs one graduate assistant, four undergrads, and coordinates student sustainability services such as the Bike Resource Center, the Mizzou Food Coalition, advises numerous campus environmental groups, and facilitates about 50 service learning students. –TINA CASAGRAND

Sustain Mizzou Elects New Leaders

now in its eighth year of operation, Sustain Mizzou has elected three new executive board leaders: Abigail Keel succeeded Kat Seal as President; Lauren Sedlacek took over Henry Hellmuth’s position as Vice President of Programming; A.J. Carpio is the new Vice President of Communications, the position held by Julie Zender; and Molly Pershing was elected Secretary, which was Keel’s former position. Each semester, members elect three of the six executive board members. –TINA CASAGRAND

Local Food Drive raises more than $1000

sustain mizzou, the mizzou unity coalition and Environmental Science Club volunteers dressed as fruits, vegetables, eggs and bacon slices April 9 through 13 to raise money for the annual Local Food Drive. They raised $1,111.92 and plan to supplement the donations with proceeds from the Fresh Beets benefit concert to be held at The Bridge on Tuesday, April 23 at 8 p.m. –TINA CASAGRAND


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recipesrecipes

cook pasta, saute cubes of tofu in ginger sesame sauce, toast almonds, sautee broccoli in garlic, add red pepper, chop cilantro, mix together, add ginger sesame dressing to taste. Voila! If you’re not out to feed an army, the whole bag of Orzo might be too much.

–MELANIE CHENEY

1 bag of Orzo pasta1 package of firm tofu1 bottle of Ginger Sesame dressing Toasted almonds broccoli sauteed in garlic but still crunchy1 red pepper1 bunch cilantro Optional: add curly kale for extra greens into saute mix

Ginger Sesame Broccoli

Pasta Salad what you’ll need: Curly leaf kale Olive oil spritzer Salt

Preheat your oven to 350° F. Wash and tear pieces off the kale stem: I used sizes about half the palm of my hand (and don’t worry about making them perfect, different sizes will just cook faster/slower and they all tasted great!). Lay pieces on a foil covered pan and try to spread them out evenly. Add some olive oil and toss the chips, then add some sprinkles of salt. Put in the oven fairly close to the top. Flip the leaves over after 5-7 minutes, watch them, and when the edges start getting brown that’s a good time to take them out. Times vary around 13-15 minutes total. –LAUREN SEDLACEK

in a munchy mood? Don’t feel like grabbing a bag of guilt-inducing snacks? Me neither! All hail the discovery of kale chips: a perfect combination of nutritious and delicious. The fun part about this recipe is that it’s more of a bare-bones guideline for you to make your own. Add some spices, maybe cumin! Adjust the cooking time and temperature to your liking. Endless options.

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Ingredients

Inspired by a

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Squeeze!

photos courtesy of sxc.hu

Lauren’s Famous Kale Chips


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¼ pound local shiitake mushrooms per person Your favorite dressing/sauce (I did Annie’s shiitake mushroom) Yellow onion, diced Seasonings: sea salt, pepper, basil (dry or fresh) Local raw greens Optional: Kim chi

marinate mushrooms in dressing. Sauté those with diced yellow onion. Add 3 tablespoons water to the pan and cover with lid to keep moisture. Sauté lightly till both onion and mushrooms are soft. Add a pinch of sea salt, pepper, and a healthy dash of dried basil (or fresh if available). Throw on top of a decadent bed of local raw greens and enjoy. If available, homemade kim chi puts this dish at level 11 out of 10. Delicious and nutritious and local! –DAKOTA BEVERIDGE

mix together crust ingredients and pat onto a cookie sheet. Cook at 350° F for around 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Melt together sauce ingredients and stir for a few minutes until bubbly and cooked through. Add 2 cups of skim milk, and stir out lumps. Let simmer and it will cook down to a thick sauce. Once it’s the right consistency, add 1 Tbsp. paprika for color. Cover the cooked crust with the sauce.

Top with any steamed veggies and sliced/shredded white cheese. A nice combination is spinach, broccoli, grilled onions, mushrooms and muenster cheese. Bake again at 350° until cheese is melted. You now hold access to one of my mother’s most delicious recipes. –KAT SEAL

recipesrecipes

crust: 3 cups cooked brown rice2 eggs1/2 cup chopped tofu

1/2 cup shredded mozzerellasauce: 3 tablespoons butter3 tablespoon flour

Annie’s Brown Rice Pizza

photo by kat seal

Mushrooms & GREENS

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foodfood

here exists a device that can cook delicious oatmeal or pasta or quinoa, steam carrots or dumplings to perfection, whip up a stew or a stir-fry or scrambled eggs, keep

chocolate fondue hot and delicious, and even pop a batch of old-fashioned popcorn.

This device is cheap, often costing under $20. It’s lightweight and portable, easy to clean, low on energy use, approved for use in most dorm rooms, and requires only about a square foot of counter or floor space and a standard electric outlet to be used anytime, anywhere. It’s no recent invention, and I can almost guarantee you’ve heard of it.If you’ve ever seen a television advertisement for a set of “magic knives” or a fit-in-your-lunchbox blender, you’ll probably agree that the versatility of most kitchen items is exaggerated and overrated. That’s why it astonishes me that this device is normally sold as a one-use contraption – the humble Rice Cooker. –MIRANDA METHENY

cooking rice: Rice cookers were designed with rice first and foremost in mind. Not only do they cook rice easily and quickly, they also cook better rice than any other method. You can make brown rice, pasta, pilafs, and other grains like oatmeal, amaranth, quinoa, and millet in a very similar way.steaming: While your rice cooks, put veggies, fish, or thin pieces of meat over it to cook without wasting time, energy or space. You can also just add water to steam without the rice. Many rice cookers come with a steamer basket for this very purpose, but if yours doesn’t, never fear. You can put quick-to-steam items on top of the rice when it’s halfway through cooking, or you can get a set of stackable bamboo steamers (about $15). preparing eggs: Whether you like them scrambled, fried, poached, basted or boiled, eggs can taste just the way you like them in a rice cooker. I use mine to hard-boil Easter eggs every year for my dorm friends, and to fry eggs to top ramen noodles and stir-fries. Because rice cookers operate at a fairly low heat, they are especially well suited for poaching eggs or frying them over-medium.even more: Although a big wok might be easier, faster, or more specialized, rice cookers are just great for one-pot meals like jambalaya, stir-fried veggies, or sautéed mushrooms. I have made delicious risottos, soups, and stews in my rice cooker, and I’ve even used it to pop popcorn and bake brownies! Be bold and try out your own ideas. old-fashioned popcorn: Pour 1 tablespoon of oil into the rice cooker along with about enough kernels to cover half the bottom of the rice cooker to a depth of one kernel. Tape down the ‘on’ switch so that the cooker will get the oil hot enough and wait for the magic… chocolate fondue: Melt 1½ cups heavy cream cream and 16 ounces chocolate chips until the mixture is smooth. Feel free to get creative with dark, milk, or white chocolate, peanut butter, toffee, vanilla, almond, orange or peppermint extract, alcoholic add ins, or whatever you can dream up!

A Beginner’s Guide to

Rice Cookery

Visit FootprintMag.Wordpress.com and search

“rice cooker” for more tips and recipes.

{RECIP

ES

ONLINE »


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by katie miller

TWOfor the price of

ONE

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diy

Reupholster chairs and make custom shoes with

the same fabric

y main motivation for my latest “crafternoons,” was twofold—to save money and to reduce my consumption. I graduated this past December from the University of Missouri with a Bachelor’s in Social Work and have since moved back to a suburb of Chicago. I am very blessed to have my first “place.” My grandmother moved next door to my parents about two years ago when her declining

health made it more practical to live next to her family who could take care of her and to purchase the one-level house that had gone into foreclosure, making it affordable. However, due to the same poor housing market that allowed her to move, in return, her condo did not sell while on the market for over a year. Lucky for me, that means I now get to live in her old condo for relatively cheap rent! My mom lived here when she was a teenager, and it hasn’t really been remodeled since then. It’s pretty spectacular with its gold speckled countertops, peeling cabinets, and faded brown green carpet. It’s home now.

I’m just starting out and am currently working as a full-time nanny until I begin graduate school, so I am very much on a budget. At the same time, I try to be somewhat environmentally conscious, meaning I lug bags of recycling to my parents house, since our complex does not

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offer recycling, unplug my cell phone charger when not in use, and I’ve been a vegetarian for a year now. (Fun fact: Giving up meat just once a week is comparable to switching to a hybrid car! Times seven, that’s a pretty effective way to reduce your carbon footprint!)

I had acquired a table that was in my parents shed for several years that was my great-grandmothers’ kitchen table back in the day. (My fiancé recently proposed with the same great-grandmother’s engagement ring, so both have a lot of sentimental value!) I found four chairs from a very affordable furniture resale shop run by local churches. The most expensive chair was $35, and the least expensive was $12, for a grand total of about $97. I knew I wanted them all mismatched, and I found really nice, solid-wood, antique-looking chairs. My next step was to choose four different colors, so I chose salmon, yellow, light blue, and navy blue. I hope to eventually paint the sides of the table/walls a sage green to go with those colors. Total, they took about three days to finish. The steps I followed to finish the chairs were: Turn over the chairs to unscrew the seats from the bottoms

diy

Sand/scratch up the finish and then wipe the dust off with a microfiber cloth Apply two coats of paint to each chair, letting the first coat dry completely before starting the second (I made this mistake on one of the chairs! The paint cracks into the wood grain if you paint a second coat over the first if it’s not dry. This is fine if you like the distressed look, though!) Pull off the old fabric from the upholstered seats except for the last layer, wrap with new fabric, pull taut, and staple the fabric to the bottom using a staple gun. (I used a really pretty and inexpensive toile de joie pattern, backed with a few layers of plain white fabric to give a clean pattern and protect from last layer of the old fabric, which was kind of gross.) Make seat cushions for the remaining two chairs, using the same pattern of fabric for consistency. (I purchased foam, cut it to the shape of the seat, pinned fabric to the foam, cut another piece of fabric on top, and then hand-sewed a seam together. Don’t forget to remove the pins as you sew!) For a general idea, see this. Screw together the seats back to the bases of the chairs.

Since I had so much leftover fabric, and I was sick of my parents making fun of my “hole-y” TOMS shoes, I decided to cover my old grey TOMS with some of the leftover fabric.

For this, I first washed them in the washing machine and let them dry completely, covered the big hole in my right toe area with Aleene’s Tacky Glue to make a glue patch, cut the shape of fabric I wanted, folded over the edge, and sewed it over the original fabric. I decided to paint the soles a sunny yellow to make them look more new and cover up some of the stains that didn’t come off in the washing machine.

Two crafts for the price of one, and I didn’t kill any trees for new chairs! I hope you get inspired to create your own custom kitchen or shoes! Happy crafting!

diy


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diy diy

step 1 Assemble required items: containers, soil, nail and hammer. The Arizona Cooperative Extension says the soil should be lightweight, soil that has large amounts of clay is detrimental to raising plants, especially potted plants. This is important for the drainage of the plant. Learn from our mistake: Paper egg cartons dry out too quickly. Styrofoam and plastic work better for planters.

step 2 In order to start transplants, fill the egg cartons with soil. Place the seed, the penny, one-third of the way down and then cover with soil.

step 3 To start the plant in a larger container, poke holes in the bottom of the container with a nail and hammer. Make sure that the pot is a large enough size for the desired plant. Kathy LaLiberté on the Gardener’s Supply Company’s website says it is better if the pot is too big than too small. Arizona Cooperative Extension, under the helpful websites list, has a chart that lists the desired size of container for different types of vegetables. Remember to water on a consistent basis and enjoy the wonderful plants that will grow. Make sure there are enough holes in the bottom in order to aid the drainage.

step 4 Fill with soil and plant the seed at the desired depth. A good resource is Gardener’s Supply Company, under helpful websites list, gives planting depth for several common vegetables. Cover the seed and water.

step 1

step 2

step 3

step 4

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MAKEYOUR OWN PLANTERSPLANTERS

MAKEYOUR OWN

HOW TOHOW TO

I

a step-by step guide to upcycling tin cans into easy-to-make

plantersI

Iphotos & instructionsby briney bischof


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putting the toyota prius

ON TRIALan essay by james jordan

am admittedly a huge “petrol head,” as the British would say. I. LOVE. CARS. Particularly cars that push the limits of what we think cars can do. That usually

means they go faster, handle better, or feature impressive new safety technologies. This may seem particularly conflicting since I also consider myself an environmentalist. On the contrary, I am always impressed with cars that have a smaller environmental impact than others. The Toyota Prius is often regarded as the quintessential example of a car with such a reputation, though this is a rather misguided sentiment.

Many people drive about in their Toyota Prius as though it is a functional badge of honor with bold capitalized letters reading “I AM SAVING THE WORLD.” What they might not know is that this statement is one of the biggest falsehoods in the history of the automotive industry.

The Prius is terrible for the environment. Yes, it gets good gas mileage (42 miles per gallon according to the EPA), but unfortunately fuel consumption is far from being the only factor affecting a vehicle’s

essay

IT’S NOT AS GREEN AS IT MIGHT SEEM

(AND A ALTERNATIVE APPROVED BY A CAR LOVER)

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the tesla roadster

photo courtesy of wikim

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essay

opposed to the multitude of countries that have a hand in producing Prius batteries.

A good example of a high “mile per gallon” alternative to today’s “conventional hybrid” Prius is the purely electric Tesla Roadster.

Tesla uses lithium batteries, which are much simpler and produce virtually zero dangerous chemicals when they are processed. The lithium is not mined, but rather scraped off the top of dried salt lakebeds in the mountains of Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. It’s then trucked down to a processing plant nearby and made into batteries.

As an added bonus, we have an abundance of lithium, while nickel is a precious metal in short supply.

Tesla Motors also includes the price of the second battery in the purchase price of its vehicles. Consequently, when you reach the end of the first battery’s life you literally take your car back to Tesla where they pull out the old battery and install a new one. In about a week the old battery has been recycled into a new one for the next customer, with zero virtually no toxic waste produced.

The nickel batteries, on the other hand, do have some toxic substances that need to be disposed of properly, or they can be dangerous to people and the environment.

Furthermore, electric cars should, in theory, last longer than hybrids since their electric motors are substantially less complex and more reliable than their gasoline counterparts. As an added bonus, all electric cars within a particular area get their power from one power plant, thereby making it easier and most cost effective to control a single emissions source.

Those wanting to learn more about lithium batteries, electric cars, or the

revolution of the energy economy should pick up Seth Fletcher’s book,

Bottled Lightning, available on Amazon for $14.82.

Want to know more?

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impact on the environment. When looking at the impact a vehicle has, you must also acknowledge the process by which the car was manufactured. The problem with the Prius in particular is its nickel- metal hydride battery.

To make the batteries for the Prius, nickel is mined in Ontario, Canada and then smelted. The nickel is then shipped to Europe where it is refined. Then the refined nickel is shipped to China where it is processed to make a foam substance that is then shipped to Japan. In Japan the battery is finally completed and inserted into the Prius, which is otherwise manufactured in the same fashion as just about any other car. To further the issue, the battery only lasts around 200,000 miles (though, due to their age, very few of these cars have actually made it to that benchmark).

At that point you need to get the battery replaced. With few exceptions, any car with 200,000 miles or more would be worth around $2,500 or less, which coincidentally happens to be the average price of a replacement battery, not to mention additional costs to maintain the engine and the rest of the car. So at 200,000 miles the Prius would most likely make it’s way to the dump.

My 18-year-old BMW on the other hand has over 213,000 miles on it and both my BMW, and most of the repair parts I purchase for it were made either in the German state of Bavaria, or Cairo, Egypt, as


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cross-ing

TUrtle

by calder cleavelinwith reporting by tina casagrand

mu researcher works to improve the treacherous territory of

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the world is vast, full of dangers and obstacles, and you are driven by instinct. But your habitat is shrinking. Where once you could move freely, unfamiliar obstacles now hamper your travels, presenting new kinds of predators evolution hasn’t equipped you to deal with.

A wide, black plane lies between you and your destination, and you have no choice but to cross it, even as a non-stop flux of giant, unrelenting beasts race across your path; in front and behind you, deathly unaware of your presence. You can only cringe back in your shell and hope it will protect you.

You are an average North American box turtle, and you need to get across the road.

Missouri’s temperate, humid climate is a haven for reptiles, not least of which are 17 species of turtle who have particular trouble crossing motorways. Not only are turtles iconically slow, but they lack the ability to hop curbs and dodge traffic like some more agile mammals.

IMAGINE YOU ARE SMALL.


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Dr. Brice Hanberry, a researcher for the University of Missouri’s forestry department, feels for the plight of the Columbia’s plentiful turtle population, and has begun championing the cause of turtle crossings in the Columbia area.

“I’ve never seen turtles like there are turtles here,” she says. Her travel record is impressive – from UC-Santa Cruz to Mississippi, and all the way to New Hampshire. Her anecdotal evidence for the plight of Columbia’s turtles echoes a sentiment of preventative action – deal with the issue of turtle crossing before it cripples the population.

“Right away, whenever we find turtles, we stop and pick them up,” says Hanberry. And she isn’t alone; it isn’t uncommon for drivers to stop and ferry turtles across the road before they find themselves in the path of a less attentive motorist.

Despite her efforts, though, Hanberry says it’s often too late. Everyday she sees turtles crossing Grindstone or Nifong, a number of which do not survive. Turtle shells just aren’t adapted to resist violent encounters with vehicles. Few things in nature are.

Reptiles have long flourished in Mid-Missouri, but species are not usually able to adapt quickly enough to the sudden (in the evolutionary sense) fragmentation of habitat. Suburban areas of Columbia still serve as terrain for wildlife, and it’s even thought that a large dirt pile on Grindstone may attract turtles as an egg-laying site.

Hanberry has explored solutions to the problem of turtle crossings, which include the installation of tunnels to prived safe passage underneath roads, or creating ramps or breaks in curbs that turtles might otherwise not be able to climb.

A project in Lake Jackson, Florida, called EcoPassage, oversaw the installation of road culverts in areas of prolific wildlife (some culverts already exist in places to channel water underneath roads). Guide walls direct animals safely through the underground passageways, where otherwise they might be forced to traverse a street or highway. It comes

at the peril of not just animals needing to cross, but motorists not keen on adding to the mosaic of road kill.

The number of road kill incidents for heavily traversed motorways can be morbid – well into the hundreds, or even thousands of incidents for a given period of time – but in studies of barrier wall-culvert systems ecologists have shown that they are “very successful in reducing total road kill” in nearly every animal group. This sets an optimistic precedent for a similar initiative in Boone County.

Hanberry posits that if a council member from each city ward were to hear from 5 or 10 residents, the issue could be made into a priority. There is even an email residents can copy, sign and forward to their council representatives.

City councilmember Mary Stillwell, a figure behind Columbia’s chicken laws, has already begun working with Hanberry to move Columbia’s own turtle initiative forward. New laws would supplement possible grant opportunities Hanberry is seeking, which would allow for curb alterations at strategic locations around Columbia.

Culverts and barrier walls help re-route turtles underneath roads, but ramps or curb breaks would help already stranded turtles climb out. Hanberry noted that a Girl Scout project had already installed ramps and signs in a certain location, however she is seeking a permanent, city sanctioned solution.

Stay up to date with the latest turtle news by joining the Turtle Crossing COMO Facebook page. fr

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006.

North American distribution of the

ornate box turtle (adapted from

Hammerson 1999, Map 8.3: Dodd

2001, Map 5; Stebbins 2003, Map

65). Light gray areas represent the

current range of the ornate box

turtle. The dark gray area represents

an intergradation zone between this

species and the desert box turtle

(Ward 1978, Stebbins 1985, 2003).


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cds already restricts the amount of food that is leftover and ultimately wasted at the end of the day. For example, many of the raw fruits and vegetables featured on the salad bar one day may be repurposed for use in a soup the next.

However, some foods are subject to specific guidelines and cannot be repurposed for additional meals, or may only be reheated one time. For this reason, most meals are made to order, with chefs preparing only 10 to 20 portions at one time.

CDS has transitioned to this procedure in the last few years in order to cut back on the amount of food that is prepared, and the amount of leftovers and food waste produced.

“It’s the right thing to do,” says Campus Dining Services Marketing Manager Michael Wuest. “We strive in everything that CDS does to preserve and conserve the natural resources that we have in order to limit the impact we have on the environment.”

At each of the 21 dining locations on campus, there is an overall focus on encouraging students to be conscientious about the amount of food they put on their plates each trip back to the buffet line.

“As a student eating in the dining halls, I like to get smaller portions of various foods in multiple dishes,” freshman Lee Banov said. “That way I can sample a lot of different things like salad or cereal without overeating, or potentially wasting a large portion of my meal.”

Since November 2011, food waste began travelling a few short miles east of Columbia to be composted at the Bradford Research and Extension Center, where superintendent Tim Reinbott excitedly heads

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WASTE NOT,

WA IT NOTcampus dining services lead the charge of managing food waste

by meghan eldridge

Horse manure and bedding materials are kept in one of four bays to eventually be mixed with food scraps to produce compost.

Dining ha l ls produce 250 tons of food

waste each year, by one Campus Dining

Services est imate. That f igure breaks

down to about 4.5 ounces of food waste

per student per meal everyday.


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sustain mizzou2011-2012 by the numbers

Go to footprintmag.wordpress.com and search “Bradford compost” for

step-by-step photos and a micro documentary of the composting process. WANT MORE?

a project termed “Composting in a Zero Carbon Footprint Production System.” Numbers from fall semester estimate that a total of 6,000 pounds of basic materials (food scraps, horse bedding and manure) were used to produce 4,000 pounds of compost.

Each day, undergraduate students in the Biological Engineering program deliver 610-pound loads of food scraps to Bradford. These food scraps are then mixed for about a week in a machine called a reel mixer. From there, the mixture is moved to one of four bays where horse manure and bedding materials are added and allowed to decompose for another four weeks. At the end of the process, the mixture has decomposed into a few hundred pounds of compost.

This mixture is rich in nutrients and ready to be used to grow vegetables such as cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes and sweet corn, which are then sent back to the dining halls to be consumed by students.

The university is among a select few in the nation to experiment with composting food waste produced on campus, and the only school to do so through an entirely closed loop.

Additionally, Reinbott is working on a system to utilize leftover vegetable oil from the dining halls to manufacture biodiesel to power transport trucks to and from the Bradford Center, as well as tractors and other machinery used on the farm.

“We’ll be the first in the nation to have a complete system like this,” Reinbott says. “We can be an example for other schools, including Columbia public schools, and universities who serve more meals per day than MU does. We’re trying to reduce our carbon footprint in whatever we do, and this is a great way to produce vegetables while reducing our environmental impact.” Reinbott encourages student participation in the project, from experimenting with composting techniques on the farm, to marketing the environmentally conscious image on campus. As sustainability momentum builds each year, MU’s waste reduction could soon lead the nation — in having as little impact as possible.

last word

6 residents living in Sustainahouse since Fall 2011

8 We celebrated our 8th birthday (pretty incredible for a student organization) on February 4th.

10 crops planted by TCA: chard, lettuce, onion, pepper, tomato, radish, carrots, broccoli, leeks, arugula

14 general meetings in one year (with themes including national and state parks, the food system, green Halloween much more!)

14.8 tons of recyclable containers collected at MU football games this fall by Tiger Tailgate Recycling

16 potlucks hosted by Sustainahouse

20 bags of trash and 10 tires collected from the Hinkson Creek by Stream Team

42.04 pounds of green and red romaine lettuce sold to Campus Dining Services, grown by Tigers for Community Agriculture

50 attentive listeners at the “Colombia to Columbia: a conversation between cultures” event.

100 new students at our orientation on the Quad

140 original posts on footprintmag.wordpress.com and counting!

$1,111.92 raised so far for the Local Food Drive

3,600 dozen Stanton Brothers eggs donated to the Central Missouri Food Bank –COMPILED BY TINA CASAGRAND AND KAT SEAL

The Root Cellar is Downtown Columbia’s grocery store offering the finest in local farm fresh foods and home of the Missouri Bounty Box.

Visit us to taste your way around Missouri. Our products include root vegetables from the Bootheel, trout from the cool waters of the Ozarks, apples from the river hills around St. Joseph, pasture lamb from the Plains and a full menu of salad greens from right around Columbia.

Sign up NOW for your Missouri Bounty Box to receive a diverse grouping of fresh locally raised fruits and vegetables each week. We also have a Barnyard Box featuring eggs, milk, meat and dairy products. Find out more at missouribountybox.com.

Footprint Magazine: The Action Issue

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Transcript of Footprint Magazine: The Action Issue