Going Green @ Haverford

Before the semester ended we planted fruit trees in HCA. Approximately 10 students, with the help of arboretum curator Martha Van Artsdalen and grounds manager Claudia Kent, took a break from their studies to plant 21 apple, pear and cherry trees all around HCA. So as not to ruin HCA green, the trees are scattered around the whole apartment complex. There are several behind apartment 35, a few next to apartment 46 and many encircling HCA green. While none of the planters will see these trees bear fruit during our time, many years from now Haverford students will be able to eat fruit that they picked from their own backyards. Check out the pictures!

Composting!!  Specifically, food waste composting.

Over the last few years nothing has generated more discussion in Committee for Environmental Responsibility (CER) meetings than how to dispose of our food waste.

Let me give you a brief history…

In 2008 CER hired a consultant, Niche Recycling, to do a waste audit to determine how much we were really sending to the landfill. Turns out quite a bit. Food waste alone was running over 4,500 lbs. That’s almost two tons folks!!

To help offset this, CER agreed to compost pre-consumer waste. For 18 months,  three times a week, the front end loader picked up pre-consumer waste and composted it.

During this time, CER was working with Niche Recycling to bring in-vessel composting to campus. In-vessel composting officially defined is:  ”The aerobic decomposition of shredded and mixed organic waste within an enclosed container, where the control systems for material degradation are fully automated”. Sound expensive?? Yup!

CER was not deterred by this fact, we figured where there’s a will, there’s a way. Vendors were brought in to look at the dining center to find out what was feasible. Turns out that the dining center is  ”old” and would not support a lot of the technology.

So, where are we now?

A year or so ago we went trayless. Studies suggest that going trayless reduces food waste up to 30%. It’s always better to reduce before you recycle.

And, we’re still tracking. Better Together, a Quaker Interfaith Group, collected food waste as part of an awareness initiative. Their findings were astounding. Over 600 lbs per day!

The latest endeavor brings Bryn Mawr College into the mix. Because of consumers demanding greener alternatives to landfills, waste companies are starting to offer programs where they will pick up food waste and take it to composting facilities. On March 19th, 2012 Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges will be working with Republic Waste Services on another trial to see how the two colleges can work together to help solve this issue.

Stay tuned.

Claudia

I have to admit that part of the reason for this blog is that it keeps Sustainability at Haverford on the college’s main page. Go Green!!

With that little confession out of the way, I’d like to introduce you to the pressure cooker. I’m a big beef and root vegetable person. Stews, soups you name it, it’s on my plate. These types of foods are perfect for the pressure cooker. Okay, you ask, so how does all this relate to sustainability?

Let me give you a little example.  Sunday, with the cooler temperatures, I decided it was beef stew season. I whipped out the pressure cooker, chopped the vegetables and threw everything in. 10 minutes to achieve pressure, 16 minutes cooking time. Voila!  Mouth watering stew. Gone are the days of letting it simmer for hours. Less simmering, less energy. Pressure cookers, because you use very little liquid, maintain most of the vitamins and minerals. You also keep good vegetable color.

Also gone is the somewhat volatile nature of the appliance. I’ve never seen it, but I believe there is an I love Lucy episode where it exploded and she had food dripping off the ceiling. Pressure cookers today are state of the art, you really can’t go wrong.

I’ve added a couple links below. The first, gives you all the benefits of using a pressure cooker, including the environmental and economical. The second is an article I found in Organic Gardening Magazine by Lorna Sass. Sass has written several books on pressure cooking, two of which I own, and has really perfected the technique.

With local food markets and home vegetable gardens, the pressure cooker is the perfect compliment to anyone’s kitchen.

missvickie.com/library/whyuseapc.html#Safe%20and%20Dependable

www.organicgardening.com/cook/cooking-under-pressure

In the garden

Haverford College’s Sustainability Website “Greening Haverford”  is up and running.

Anything you ever wanted to know about Sustainability at Haverford is posted on the new site. Questions about recycling?? It’s there!  How about energy conservation or local food? We have information and links to relevant sites.

“Ask the Green Squirrel” will answer any obscure (and not so obscure) questions you may have and the suggestion box is awaiting any ideas.

Take a look, we think you’ll like it.

www.haverford.edu/greening_haverford/

CPGC Cafe

On Wednesday April 14^th the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship, in partnership with the Committee for Environmental Responsibility, cordially invited the entire College community to attend a luncheon to celebrate the kick-off of the “Going Greener” campaign!

CPGC is walking the walk when it comes to going greener. The café is using corn based flatware that can be composted. New containers have been clearly labeled for composting, recycling and trash. Food scraps are collected and delivered to the dining center for composting.

Below is the menu for the “Local Food” luncheon prepared by the dining center.
o    Potato Leek Soup (Local Potatoes and Leeks)
o    Turkey Sandwiches (Local Turkey)
o    Grilled Portabella and Romaine Sandwiches (Grilled Portabella Sandwiches-Portabella Mushrooms and Romaine);
o    Egg Salad Sandwiches (Local Eggs)
o    Spinach Salad with Apples (Local Spinach and Local Fuji Apples)
o    Artichoke Salad (Jerusalem artichokes, carrots turnips, parsnips )

And they’re not done yet. Director, Parker Snowe and his staff are looking into carbon offsets for their students who travel abroad this summer. Stay tuned…

Check out the full story
www.haverford.edu/news/stories/37431/10

Yum!!

Finally there is some action in the garden. We’ve been picking pounds of green beans and the tomatoes are just starting to ripen. Potatoes have been ready for awhile now and we’ve been enjoying lots of potato salad and french fries. We’re still harvesting beets and the green peppers are almost ready.

We’ve been working the soil continually adding compost collected from the dining center, it’s really making a difference.

Many thanks to my summer volunteers who have been watering and weeding.

Have a great summer!

This spring, Haverford College Dining Services along with the Committee on Environmental Responsibility(CER) started composting pre-consumer food waste. Since its inception in March of this year we’ve composted almost 10,000 lbs of melon rinds, potato peels and lettuce leaves etc. In turn the composted material is being used in the student garden located at the Haverford College Apartments (HCA) and in the community gardens located below Facilities Management. CER is currently working on in-container composting system where both pre and post consumer waste is composted.

The cover story of the spring 2008 Haverford alumni magazine focused on food at the College. The article, written by Cheryl Sternman Rule ’92, takes a look at the coming of age of Haverford dining services – including the wide variety of options from vegan to allergy conscious, the eco-friendly choices, use of locally grown produce, and more.

The entire article is available online in PDF format, starting on page 38 of the document.