ASHS 2015 Annual Conference

Food waste is the number one material taking up landfill space in the United States.  The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 96% of uneaten food ends up in landfills.  Food and other organic wastes generate greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. College campus cafeterias generate a large amount of food waste and some universities are making efforts to capture and compost food waste.  The purpose of the study was to measure the impact of a college composting program on students’ environmental attitudes, compost knowledge and perceptions of composting.  Undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students were given a survey that included an environmental attitude scale as well as a compost knowledge survey asking college students to rate their composting habits, knowledge of the composting process, and how composting may make them feel.  A total of 660 surveys were collected from two institutions, one in the south and one in the north.  The results indicated a need and desire for compost implementation on college campuses.