After poking around the Krishna house for a couple afternoons (barefoot, at that. it's a house rule), I found out that none of the utensils are actually composted. It's still better for the environment, but it's a shame that they all end up in a landfill instead of broken down into soil.
It seems like the problem can be fixed with a little communication. Story below?
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By Logan Jaffe
The Hare Krishnas may have the cleanest shed in Gainesville.
There are no rakes, shovels or lawnmowers. No rusted bikes, no tangled hoses, no Tiki-torches or badminton nets. Open the shed’s door and you may not even know what you’re staring at.
“The university talks about being eco-conscious, but it doesn’t do as much as it talks about. Then again, who really does?"
-Duane Wells, Krishna volunteer
They are cups. They are tiny, plastic-looking cups stacked in towers of cardboard boxes that scrape the seven-foot ceiling and press against both walls. About 150,000 biodegradable cups all wait to be taken to the local compost plant after they’ve been slurped dry of Shanti tea.
But there’s a big problem. No compost plant will accept the items. In fact, there isn’t a compost plant designed for these plastic alternatives, called Bagasse, within 70 miles of Gainesville.
So the university dumps them by the truckloads into a local landfill. This is also a problem. Bagasse is designed to return to the soil through composting. Landfills are designed to bury trash. When Bagasse items are tossed into landfills it defeats their purpose. When you’re finished scraping your plate of Friday’s Guaranga potatoes and strawberry halava, your fork, plate and cup will take about a year to decompose when they’re supposed to take about 90 days. And you’re paying for it.
No one on campus has tried to fix the problem. Krishna Lunch points a finger at the University of Florida physical plant, but the plant just points back to the Krishnas. As both stare in opposite directions, white pick-up trucks come every afternoon to the Plaza of the Americas right as the lunch-lingerers head to their 1:55 class. And every afternoon, the trucks leave with about 15 trash bags—some just filled with Krishna Lunch leftovers. All of the trash is sent to a landfill.
“If Krishna Lunch uses biodegradable products then it must find its own way to compost them,” Dale Morris, director of solid waste management, said.
However, Carl Woodham, the Krishna temple president, said he was always told that the “knowledgeable people would do the rest” if he provided the material.
Meanwhile, students are paying $4 for one Krishna Lunch meal to help cover the cost of the items. Before the switch to Bagasse, Krishna Lunch was a $3 suggested donation. While Bagasse utensils do biodegrade much faster than Styrofoam utensils—what Krishna Lunch used to provide—they’re also about $3,000 more expensive. In 2007, about 90 percent of students who responded to a Krishna Lunch survey said they’d pay the extra buck for compostable items. But at the time, no one knew they wouldn’t be composted.
“In a way, the Krishnas are wasting money. Is it worth it to spend money on compostable products that are going to a landfill?"
-Dale Morris, UF physical plant
In fact, Morris had no idea that Krishna Lunch used Bagasse products until about two months ago. He also had no idea he was being blamed for the problem.
“The university talks about being eco-conscious,” said Duane Wells, the house’s herbologist who makes 90 gallons of organic Krishna Lunch tea every morning. “But it doesn’t do as much as it talks about. Then again, who really does?”
Compost efforts by Krishna Lunch and the physical plant have both fallen short. Even after the “overwhelmingly supportive” survey response, the 150-case order of compostable cups and the one attempt to build a tiny compost bin in its backyard, the Krishna house hasn’t spoken to the physical plant about the issue. Still, Woodham said he “really doesn’t know why the effort didn’t succeed.”
He also said he never promised the utensils would be composted. But to about the 800 students who eat Krishna Lunch a day, “biocompostable,” the word stamped in tiny, green letters on every cup, means they all make it to a composter. However, most students don’t know their extra dollar contributes nothing to composting. Some don’t know they’re even paying an extra dollar.
“If it was a more visible issue then students would be more likely to push for something,” freshman Lindsey Mills said, refilling her water bottle with Shanti tea.
The Krishnas say they would compost if they had the facilities. However, the process would be too costly for the house, which barely breaks even every month. The Krishnas look to the university for support but the university is having similar problems.
Morris said the physical plant doesn’t have the facilities or the money either. Composting requires the separation of food products from non-biodegradable trash, a process that is time consuming and expensive. Morris said the costs outweigh the benefits, especially for the “relatively small” amount of Krishna Lunch trash. However, he said he’s open to starting a compost project with the help of a loan or grant.
“UF isn’t ready to compost,” Morris said. “It’s a cost evaluation.”
But Morris said he didn’t know how much trash Krishna Lunch produces a day. He also didn’t know how much composting it would cost. The Krishnas, however, are aware of both. Somehow, the information never made it to the physical plant.
According to a 2007 study by interns in the bioenergy department, Krishna Lunch produces 64 pounds of trash for 315 people. Wells said about 800 people eat Krishna Lunch a day during the school year—the study was conducted in the summer—so about 167 pounds of trash is collected every afternoon. Thirty-five percent of that trash is food products that can be composted. So, Krishna Lunch adds about 60 pounds of trash a day to a landfill when it could be recycled as soil.
Even with that amount Krishna Lunch would only need the most basic in-vessel composter, a device designed to break down food scraps and organic material. It costs $8,100 and can be bought from South Dade Soil and Water Conservation. For a university that spends over $2.8 million a month for its utilities, UF seems like it can afford the composter—especially when it can cut consumption costs in the long run.
The South Dade Soil and Water Conservation estimates that most universities can recoup the cost of even the most expensive in-vessel composter—about $180,000—in two to three years. UF would eventually reduce its solid waste disposal and fertilizer costs.
Krishna Lunch provided the material two years ago. Since then, few strides have been made. The university wants to be a “zero-waste campus” in six years but has no official plans to buy a composter--an investment that would not only reduce waste, but also recycle it.
“In a way, the Krishnas are wasting money,” Morris said. “Is it worth it to spend money on compostable products that are going to a landfill?
The Krishnas think so. However, Woodham said that seeing the products not composted is a “worst-case scenario.” Still, like most Krishna Lunch volunteers, he waits for university initiative.
“We were ready then,” Woodham said. “And we’re ready now.”
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