Last spring, campus coffee houses made a switch to compostable coffee cups with the help of the Erb Memorial Union Food Service, the Campus Recycling Program, and Allann Bros Coffee as an effort to further reduce the University’s waste. Since their introduction to the new campus food service, students have slowly begun to recognize and take part in the program, but Food Services employees say students need to take more notice of the special compost bins in order for the program to be successful.
“We want it to work because we have a pretty considerable investment (in the cups),” said EMU Food Service Director John Costello. On average, the specialized cups cost up to 30% more than a regular coffee cup.
But for the University, the benefits are well worth the costs, as long as students take advantage of the strategically placed compost bins around campus. There are about seven well-marked bins within the EMU, and 10 to 12 additional bins scattered around the campus, the majority being around EMU satellite coffee houses.
Costello noted that ideally, customers would bring their own reusable container to be filled at the coffee shop, and in turn receive a 25-cent discount. Or, if they don’t have a reusable container, customers could use the compost bins, many of which sit right next to the regular garbage cans. Other compostable dining waste besides coffee cups includes chopsticks, plates, napkins, paper food boats, and most food (excluding meat and bones).
“We’d love to have more people participate,” Costello said of the compostable cup recycling program. “Slowly but surely people are (composting the cups), but we’re hoping with some extra publicity people will gladly do it,” he added.
Students who use the program would ensure their organic food waste does not end up in a landfill where it can never fully decompose.
While EMU Food Services supplied the cost of offering alternative green products such as the compostable cups, Campus Recycling, with the help of the ASUO, set up the labeled compost bins around the University. The recycling program also handles compost collection and its subsequent transportation to organic waste facilities.
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