By Bennett Pribilski
When I first joined the Hanley Sustainability Institute’s Student Leaders program and was placed on the Zero Waste team, I was instantly taken back to 6th grade when I first learned what composting actually was.
My teacher at the time brought this heavy plastic bin from under the counter, lifting it and placing it on the central table for all of us to see. When she first opened the lid, I had no clue what I was looking at. I saw newspaper shreds and dirt, and was shocked to see a worm in there. After she explained how to compost, I was immediately interested, but I had a long road ahead of me learning to accept and appreciate the process and purpose of composting.
As I got older and moved into high school, composting was essentially non-existent. My interest in composting at a young age had much to do with its accessibility and presence in my classroom. My experience with composting became obsolete, at least until my first year at the University of Dayton.
When I arrived at UD, I was surprised to see composting as such a prevalent practice. I instantly had to know more about composting, where it was done on campus and how it worked. It wasn't until I joined the Hanley Sustainability Institute that I learned about the Student Neighborhood Composting program, which is run by and for students. As a Zero Waste team member, I suddenly had the ability to make an impact by helping with this program and eventually building the composting pick-up routes.
With my new sense of awareness about composting and the programming it involves, composting became a whole new sphere in my life — not just something I viewed externally, but something I was committed to in my daily life. I noticed that my trash had to be taken out fewer times a week, my kitchen never really had a rotting food smell and my level of care towards where my waste goes had never been higher.
My practices surrounding the idea continued to change as I continued composting. Now, whenever I’m at the store, I am especially conscious of and avoid packaging that is hard to recycle and would normally go straight to the landfill. Instead, I look for paper packaging, which is surprisingly easy to find for produce. I then started focusing on getting packaging-free food or buying bulk products, such as lentils or rice, that use less packaging for the amount that you receive. Following these practices, inspired by composting, has allowed me to spend less money at the grocery store by simply avoiding the increased costs associated with packaging.
As I have become more passionate about reducing waste, these practices have stuck with me even when I’m off campus. This past summer, composting began to integrate into my home life, where I started my own slow-rotting compost container. This is much different from the industrial composting in-vessel at Old River Park that is run by the Office of Energy and Sustainability at UD, but it is still effective in composting organic materials. With this compost, my family and I can now fertilize our garden and improve our planting year with the immense nutrient value of compost as a fertilizer. The more actively I have participated in composting, the more I have learned about living a more sustainable life.
When I walk around the campus now, my eyes view the environment differently, not because it has changed, but with knowledge of what I have given to it. The mulch and dirt used on campus are recycled from the houses it surrounds. The vegetables I eat over the summer are fertilized by the remnants of vegetables from last year. Overall, composting has created a circular cycle in my life that reduces waste, saves me money, and assists in living a fruitful and enriching life.