U of A Graduate Project Turns Leftover Grub into Gold

Enterprising student Zoe Teague managed to fulfill her academic requirements, help the planet and save money for the University of Arkansas – all in a single project.

A member of the university’s Honors College, Teague needed a project for her honors thesis that meshed with her major in environmental sciences.

Jennie Popp, a professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness and Teague’s honors faculty mentor, was already working with other campus staff on ways to compost leftovers and other food waste from the campus dorm cafeterias.

They were working on a feasibility study when Popp got the idea to let students work with her.

“Zoe was one of the students to respond to the request,” Popp said.

Teague and five other students carried out the study in the fall semester of 2008. They heard about Earth Tubs, which can compost up to 300 pounds of organic waste a day, and tracked down a “gently used” pair at Boston Mountain Recycling.

The 5-foot-wide, 4 1/2-foot-tall Earth Tubs were installed last month at the UA’s Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Fayetteville. The compost will be used on the center’s experimental plots.

Teague’s honors thesis documented the project with a full cost-benefit analysis and a business plan that can be implemented at other institutions.

“We are the first school in the SEC to compost our pre- and post-consumer waste,” Teague said proudly.

After the first year of operation, the Earth Tubs are expected to save the university more than $10,000 a year, Teague said. Composting food waste will save on landfill fees, hauling the waste and buying fertilizer.

Startup costs for the project were “pretty significant,” she said – about $26,000. The Earth Tubs and their installation cost more than $16,000.

Popp called the project “a true partnership across campus.”

“It went all the way from the top administrators down to the students,” she said. “It was a real campuswide achievement, and we’re real proud of that fact.”

Chartwell’s Food Service is collecting the food waste for the Earth Tubs. The Fay Jones School of Architecture is contributing sawdust from its shop; the sawdust helps with the composting process.

Teague received research funding from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and an undergraduate research grant. And student groups contributed $10,000 for the project.

“Students are really passionate about sustainability here,” Teague said, “and this is a really cool project and we really do care about it.”

In fact, this fall the university will offer a minor in sustainability. UA Provost Sharon Gaber called the program “a critically important initiative” for the university.

Teague graduated on May 14, and will soon head to St. Louis to teach middle school math and science through Teach for America. At the same time, she’ll be working on a master’s degree in secondary education at the University of Missouri.

But said she’d be back to visit her Earth Tubs.