The food waste decomposer in the recycling and composting center in Statler Commissary, North Campus, transforms everyday refuse—onion skins, egg shells, chicken bones, bell pepper tops, baked goods, coffee grinds, banana peels—into a rich, brown soil amendment gardeners can use to fertilize their plots.
Initial estimates indicate that composting kept more than 115,000 pounds of trash out of landfills between June 2009 and Jan. 1., 2010 The recycling of plastic, metal, cardboard, office paper, glass and toner cartridges cut out another 288,000 pounds of garbage.
