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So far this last week we have made some progress on our action plan. Our month started on April 1st so this marks our second week of action. We went to Target to buy our enticing candy and created the survey we will distribute. The most important part of our actions so far was creating the questions we are going to ask. The questions we are asking in our survey are as follows:  Did you know that most of the to-go containers on campus are compostable? If compost was available on campus, would you utilize it? Would you be ok with spending an extra 30 seconds separating your waste into compost, recycling, and landfill? We did not want to be biased while still discovering students’ honest sentiments on how they feel about composting and if they would be willing to compost on campus if it was available. There is always survey error, but we hope this survey will give us a general feeling about Morrill students’ views on this issue of food waste and help us with further action steps going into the future. So far we are on track so I would not change anything to help with our actions, we just have to make sure we stay diligent to our action plan. Over this past week I learned it is important to come up with the right questions to ask people about certain issues. When striving for change, it is important to know if the general public you are serving wants this change, or else these actions will not be as effective as possible. After we receive the responses and look them over, we will have a better sense of how a portion of Ohio State students who live on campus feel about composting and how we can best move on with our goal of implementing compost on campus. The challenge I foresee over these next few weeks is figuring out a way to have the administration hear us in our efforts and finding a way for them to see that composting would be beneficial. Because OSU is a very large institution with corporate interest, it is difficult for students to make real change but it is important to try.

During Earth Month, actions will be taken each week to further my project. The goal of these actions will be to see how a random sample of students feel about composting and if they would want it on campus, then use that information to develop a plan to start our work on implementing compost in various campus facilities.

The first action will be to create a survey that will be passed out to the entrance of Morrill at a high activity time of day. We will entice students with candy so they are more likely to take the few seconds to fill out the survey. This will give us a feeling of how first and second year students who live on campus (who are the students that use the dining facilities the most) feel about composting and if they would be willing to compost if it was available. During this week, I will also email Gina Hnytka, the SUSTAINS advisor, to see how we could be a part of their composting efforts and hopefully set up a time to meet with them.

During the second week, we will conduct the survey outside of Morrill and possibly other locations depending how many responses we get at Morrill.

The third week will be when we analyze the responses we received and put that data into a graph or other medium that can be effectively communicated to others.

Hopefully by the fourth week, there will be a response from SUSTAINS and we can meet with them to discuss how we could best help their efforts. A month isn’t enough time to make any real difference, but we will use this month to make a plan of action so hopefully next semester, we can start implementing our ideas.

From the speaker that came into class to talk about his social enterprise through the Roosevelt Coffeehouse, I learned more about what social enterprise entails. The aspects he talked about lined up with my initial perceptions of a social enterprise business, while giving me some real life context. While continuing to explore my issue, it is important to find connections and stay motivated. It surprised me that one of the only complications he mentioned was the difficulty in finding a space to put his coffee shop. This would be a difficult endeavor, but I figured there would be more significant setbacks. The biggest takeaway I had from this class discussion was that it is completely possible to achieve an alternative lifestyle that is desired. It inspired me that he left his current job that he was unsatisfied with and changed paths completely to pursue something that was more fulfilling. Applying this information to my topic of composting, it is somewhat difficult to see how composting can tie into the social enterprise framework. Price farms is what comes to mind – making compost and then selling it. The money from selling the compost could go back into the community and perpetuate the cycle of composting, which would benefit communities at large. The next step in engaging with this issue of composting on campus would be to see how composting could be implemented into campus facilities, and see if that food waste could be brought to a price farm to be made into compost. This would require more communication with university officials about waste management on campus.

Part 1:

Social enterprise applies commercial strategies to improve social and environmental welfare. Through social enterprise, for-profit businesses reinvest their profits made from the open market back into local communities. On the topic of composting, price farms are a good example of social enterprise for this issue. A specific one close to Columbus is Price Farms Organics in Delaware. This business accepts biodegradable material, such as yard and food waste, from residents of Delaware and surrounding counties for no charge. They then use this material to make compost, which is then sold. Other materials such as paper are also accepted for recycling. This can be considered social enterprise because it is helping the community by diverting their waste from landfills and in turn making it into compost which then goes back into the community creating healthy gardens.

A way I can get involved with my issue through social enterprise would be to encourage homeowners to bring their food and yard waste to price farms to be made into compost. This is an easy way for people to participate in making compost, while not having to do it themselves. Also, the SUSTAINS group on campus has already implemented compost into a couple dorms on north campus. The food scraps that are collected there are taken to a price farm and made into compost. I am looking to become involved with their efforts, so we can expand compost opportunities to more buildings on campus. A challenge of this specific method of bringing waste to price farms would be overcoming the inconvenience of having to physically bring it to the site. It would be much easier to just throw out food scraps, as it takes more of an effort to separate it out and then take it to another place to be made into compost.  The most important thing to take into consideration in this model of price farms would be that it has to involve participation from the community. They need people to bring in waste, and then buy the compost to return the nutrients from their food back into the community. It would be important to inform community members of the significance and importance of composting, and diverting waste from landfills in general.

Looking at the Justice Oriented Citizen Model, a personally responsible citizen would be one who supports price farms’ efforts by bringing their personal waste in to be composted. A participatory citizen would encourage and help their fellow community members separate out their trash into what can be recycled and composted. A participatory individual might also start a petition, or something similar, to expand compost to more places. A justice oriented citizen would go further, and look into the waste management systems already in place within a community and see how compost could be implemented at a local level, supported by the local government. They might also look into ways to implement a food and yard waste pick up service, so more community members would be more likely to separate out their trash to be recycled or composted because they wouldn’t have to deal with bringing it in themselves.

Part 2:

I watched episode eight of “The Social Enterprise Podcast” which featured the Compost Crew. The overarching goal of their business is to reduce our carbon footprint and reduce our dependence on oil. People can sign up for Compost Crew’s services and they then receive a bucket to in which t0 collect their food waste. Every week the bin is picked up and replaced, and every six weeks compost is made available for customers to purchase. One thing that stood out to me was that it took a long time for this company to become profitable and they struggled to figure out a way to stay sustainable. Their solution was to start a discounted pilot program. This helped them gain lots of customers and they now service over 1,600 homes. They countered negative attitudes to their business by spreading the idea that it is logical to implement composting facilities because once they’re established, no more land would be needed, unlike landfills where once they fill up more land needs to be used. They’re a social enterprise business because they definitely benefit the community they’re profiting from.

The two speakers last week impacted my initial thoughts about community organizing. Originally, I perceived community organizing as simply getting the community behind an issue of social change. This is essentially what it is, but with much more to it. The biggest takeaway I had from listening to the speakers was how closely linked community organizing is with political action. It is one thing to have community support, but to make effective and lasting change, political influence is often needed. Both speakers, especially Jessie, mentioned their biggest set back was dealing with regulations and policy. Her projects of making streets more people friendly were effective and successful, but to make a permanent change requires formal policy changes. The other speaker with the Columbus Bill of Rights was clearly very linked to political action, as he is trying to get their initiative on the ballot.

Looking at this lens in the context of my issue, composting on campus, there would be many more aspects to consider. There are probably regulations and policies in the way of making composting a reality, so it would be necessary to look more into those rules. There is also a waste management company already in place, so this could also potentially get in the way of establishing a composting service. The first step of this process would be to do the research behind the waste management that is currently being used on campus, the policies in place regarding waste, and to begin to form community support for this composting initiative.

Part 1:

Community Organizing would be instrumental in implementing compost at Ohio State. To be able to have the administration listen and act, we would need a strong student base that is passionate and wants composting on campus. Econopia is a current company based in Columbus that focuses on diverting food waste from landfills through composting. They work with mid to small scale food waste generators to help them do their part in composting. Anyone can reach out to Econopia if they are interested in doing their own composting or want to buy compost bags.  Econopia works directly with Columbus neighborhoods and organizations, so community organization is central to their work. I would assume while participating in community organizing that challenges would frequently come up. It can be difficult to encourage people to join a cause that they might not otherwise care about. It would be hard to form a solid enough base of support from everyday citizens to make effective and lasting change in that community.  

While thinking about community organizing and my issue, it is important to figure out the needs of the campus community and find a way composting plays into that need. Understanding our community better and finding ways to effectively engage students with our cause would help jump start the process of integrating compost into the dining facilities. Looking at the Justice Oriented Citizen Model, we need to understand why compost is not already present on campus and the barriers that is keeping it from happening. There is a reason it is not already present so we need to get to the root of that issue and figure out who to reach out to to discuss waste and sustainability on campus and how composting would play a role in the university’s sustainable mission.

Part 2:

I watched the Ted Talk, “Compost King”, given by Paul Sellew. He spoke about the problems of modern food waste through food production and consumption. He emphasized that this system is not sustainable and includes incredible costs. Sellew started a company that picks up organic food waste from homes and restaurants, brings it back to his organic waste recycling plant and produces biogas (renewable energy source) and compost based organic fertilizer. This process recovers the nutrients from the waste and returns it to the land and at the same time extracts valuable energy from these materials through biogas production.  Community organizing is present in his system and business because it is essential to encourage community members to participate in separating out their food waste and put it out for pick up. They also need to work with local governments to implement their organic waste pick up services. He mentioned this has been the challenge for him, getting his company implemented in more communities. From this Ted Talk I took away that composting and using food waste for energy is sustainable both environmentally and economically. This system can promote job growth, new technologies, and is also healthy for the environment. This system of creating biogas and compost from food waste would be brilliant if implemented correctly and effectively.

The three issues I chose to explore are food deserts, sustainable energy, and food waste. All three of these issues are topics of interest to me and are also significant to society. I related all three issues to the Justice-Oriented Citizen Model.

There are still many areas across America and close to home that are impacted by food deserts. Local residents have inadequate access to fresh healthy foods usually because of the lack of a variety of grocery stores, farmer’s markets and other providers of healthy foods. By looking at the Justice-Oriented Citizen Model, the issue of food deserts can be represented adequately. In this situation, a personally responsible citizen might volunteer at community gardens in food deserts or buy local food. A participatory citizen could organize and start a community garden and provide food education classes so local residents can learn how to cook and eat healthier with the food they are growing. A participatory citizen might also work to bring farmers markets into affected communities. A justice oriented citizen would work to understand how food deserts come about and understand the income disparity in these communities. This citizen would also look at the food system in America and understand how food chains influence purchasing and eating habits and the price of food.

The second issue I chose to explore was the use of sustainable energy. We as a planet cannot use fossil fuels and other non-renewables indefinitely, so it is important we start the transition to more sustainable energy resources. For this issue, a personally responsible citizen might sign a petition for the switch to renewables (I’ve signed a couple of these petitions around campus to get OSU to use 100% sustainable energy sources). This citizen might also simply switch their lightbulbs to LED as an energy saving measure. A participatory citizen could start the petition and provide education to fellow citizens about the importance of sustainable energy. A justice oriented citizen would work to understand the barriers society faces in using fully sustainable energy resources. This citizen would also look at the costs of switching over and also how much the government is supporting the idea of sustainable energy (government subsidies/taxes). There is lots of money in coal and oil industries so a justice oriented citizen would work to combat that issue.

The third issue I chose to look at is the unnecessary amount of waste the average person produces. We as a society consume and use a significant amount of packaged food and disposable items like cups, plastic bags, and utensils. Recently I have been more aware of all the waste I and others produce, especially around campus, and I find it troubling. To combat this issue, a personally responsible citizen would use reusable water bottles and coffee mugs, bring their own bags to the grocery, and recycle. A participatory citizen might create an incentive program at grocery stores and coffee shops for people who bring their own reusable bag or mug. They also might work to ban plastic bags, which has already been done in some countries. A justice oriented citizen would focus on the packaging plants and the origins of these products as well as the mass production culture we are accustomed to. There are barriers to becoming “zero waste”, and a justice oriented citizen would understand those setbacks and figure out ways to overcome them.

In the end, I have chosen to explore the waste issue this semester. I think this issue is very relevant on campus, especially because OSU is trying to become “zero waste”.  The university has taken steps to achieve this goal, but I feel there is much more that could be implemented. Since I started working at Juice 2, I have noticed how much waste we produce just as a small smoothie shop. The smoothie and coffee cups are not recyclable so they go straight into the trash (even though the smoothie cups are supposed to be compostable, there’s no compost). Students are allowed to use their personal coffee mugs or bottles for smoothies and coffee, but no one does because either they forget to bring it along or they don’t know it’s an option. I think food retailers around campus could do a better job of encouraging students to bring their own reusable products to reduce the amount of waste going straight into the trash and to the landfill. I also think compost should be implemented, and would be a positive asset to this community on so many levels. It would be difficult to fully implement, but if we talked to the right people and created an action plan, I think change could be made. This issue is a reasonable and important one to tackle around campus, which is why I chose this as the topic I wish to explore this semester.

–Olentangy Trail

One of the things I like about living in Morrill is that we are very close to the Olentangy Trail. I use this trail to go on runs and bike rides. I also love that it can be used to get to many other parts of Columbus.

–Goodale Park

We took the COTA to the Short North and stopped by Goodale Park. We enjoyed the swings and just walking around. The fountain and pond are my favorite parts of the park. I also like that a lot of people walk there dogs here, so there were many dogs to pet. This is a nice place to come to get away from the shopping on the Short North for a little bit.

–Hayden Falls Park 

Over Thanksgiving break I was able to explore Hayden Falls. This little slice of nature is right off a busy street right by the Scioto River. This is a very beautiful area and a great place to come for a short walk to see the waterfall.

My favorite experience I had from this project was definitely the Audubon. I love the fact that it is so easy to get to by bike and that there’s an outdoor climbing wall. It is also just a great place to come to hang out and enjoy the outdoors. From this project, I learned that Columbus has so many natural spaces that are available for everyone to enjoy. The trails and parks encourage outdoor activities and this is one thing I love about Columbus. These experiences make me want to explore the other parks in Columbus that I wasn’t able to go to. To someone who is looking to explore the parks of Columbus, I would definitely recommend biking the Olentangy Trail and other trails to get to them if possible.