Guilford got greener in September. The school completed and submitted a sustainability plan and installed new equipment to compost kitchen waste. Guilford is one of over 600 colleges and universities that have committed to completing a College Climate Action Plan.

These practical plans were the next step for schools who signed the American College & University Climate Commitment two years ago. The CCAPs tell how each college will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to be carbon-neutral by 2049.

“Guilford creates a carbon footprint, and we can eliminate it through technology, conservation and behavior changes,” said Jim Dees, Guilford’s environmental sustainability coordinator.

Students, faculty, and facilities staff have been working for the past two years to identify every operation on campus that adds to global warming. The Guilford CCAP evaluates the sources of campus greenhouse emissions and proposes a timeline for eliminating them.

“Carbon neutrality is something to work for,” said Dees. “We need to work that goal into the fabric of the community”

The Guilford plan calls for a gradual elimination of all solid waste produced on campus and sent to landfills.

The Meriwether Godsey staff began using composting equipment called the Earth Tub in September.

Dees and Meriwether Godsey Sustainability Coordinator Mac McBee have been working together to perfect the recipe that will turn kitchen waste into compost.

The kitchen staff weighs the garbage before adding it to the tub with bulking agents such as yard waste. These two main ingredients are then mixed. The mixing process requires a combination of muscle and electricity.

The Earth Tub stays heated to kill bacteria and to speed up decomposition of the kitchen scraps and the bulking agent.

After several days Dees or McBee tests to see if the mix in the tub is too wet or too dry. They add food waste if the mix is too dry. If it’s too wet, they add more bulking agents.

Dees says that the compost material will be great for the herb garden next to the Earth Tub and for Guilford’s 20 new garden plots.

He expects the composting system to reduce the volume of solid waste from the kitchen by 75 percent or more.

“That should save money on garbage removal,” said Dees, “since it will reduce the number of dumpsters needed or the number of times we pay to have them emptied.”

Dees and McBee check the components several times a day to make sure that the aeration system is working with the biofilter to reduce odors. The first compost is expected to be ready later this month.

On Sept. 28, students in Bryan Hall organized a sustainability awareness meeting.

Bryan RA Richard Johnson says he plans to hold other sustainability events. “It helps to build community and establishes environmental goals.”

Johnson said that he may show an environmentally-focused film at the next awareness event as a way to educate students interested in Guilford’s sustainability plan.

The CCAP is available on the Guilford Web site.