Graduation Year
2024
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Environmental Analysis
Reader 1
Guillermo Douglass-Jaimes
Reader 2
Nancy Neiman
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Rights Information
@ 2024 Grace M Hill
Abstract
Pomona College’s dining halls generate 57 tons of food waste every year. While Pomona composts kitchen scraps onsite at the Pomona Farm, plate scrapings cannot be composted onsite due to their high level of non-compostable contamination. As a result, most food waste is sent to an industrial composting facility in Victorville, CA, increasing Pomona’s greenhouse gas emissions. This study explores how to minimize compost contamination and expand onsite composting to decrease the College’s carbon footprint. In a week-long pilot at Frank Dining Hall, my senior capstone group collected, analyzed, and composted kitchen scraps and plate scrapings at the Pomona Farm to identify main contaminants and develop processes for managing contamination. We found that students and dining hall staff are responsible for contamination. Based on our findings, we recommend a three-pronged approach to reduce compost contamination, through 1) material substitution and reduction, 2) signage and waste disposal set-up redesign, and 3) improved inter-departmental communication. If they follow recommendations to develop their onsite composting program, Pomona College could become a model of responsible waste management for educational institutions across the country.
Recommended Citation
Hill, Grace, "From Fork to Farm: Strategies to Expand Onsite Composting and Reduce Compost Contamination at Pomona College" (2024). Scripps Senior Theses. 2299.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/2299
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
