Overview:

The goal of this petition is to promote more sustainable food systems at the University of Richmond by implementing campus-wide composting. Given ample student support and subsequent action by the University, this petition will lay the foundation for composting of all pre- and post-consumer food waste from all Dining Services facilities and residence life buildings. This initiative aims to expand on and solidify the goals of the 2019 Sustainability Plan to establish campus-wide composting before the Plan’s aim of 2025, a response to pressing environmental crises and the need for the University of Richmond to be a leader in sustainability. 

Rationale:

According to our Sustainability Plan, the University of Richmond seeks to weave responsible environmental stewardship into the fabric of the University and commits itself to adopting practices that will make us leaders in sustaining our environmental, human, and social resources. The Plan sets a goal of achieving 75% waste diversion while composting all pre- and post-consumer food waste by 2025. These goals are admirable and reflect a growing culture of environmental awareness among UR’s campus community. Still, as future global leaders, our students seek to catalyze change and address critical environmental issues now, beginning on our campus.

The benefits of composting are clear. Food waste that goes to landfills decomposes without oxygen, which emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Conversely, composted food decomposes in the presence of oxygen and emits carbon dioxide, which, while also a greenhouse gas, is 80 times less potent than methane over a 20 year period. Additionally, compost can be used by farmers to enrich soil naturally, reducing harmful runoff from fertilizers and allowing for closed-circle resource consumption.

Objectives:

We, the University of Richmond students, urge the Office for Sustainability, Facilities, Residence Life, Dining Services, and all other stakeholders in this process to collaborate in developing and approving a composting plan by May of 2020, using online surveys, public forums, and other participation mediums to include students in the planning process. The composting plan should seek to implement a pilot program in campus apartments beginning in August of 2020, with full implementation among all campus apartments beginning in August of 2021. As a next step in scaling this initiative, we call for the implementation of full campus-wide composting of pre- and post-consumer food waste in all Dining Services facilities by August of 2022. 

We ask that the various branches of the University of Richmond administration hear our concerns as urgent and legitimate. In partnering with administrative bodies to implement campus-wide composting at the University of Richmond, we take a step in environmental leadership and grow as a community of problem-solvers and global citizens.

-- Co-authored by Eve Gilles and Andre Eanes, University of Richmond Class of 2020