There鈥檚 a whole world living inside your food waste 鈥� billions and billions of microorganisms 鈥� just waiting to make your landscaping bloom brighter and your vegetables grow heartier.
Now 黑洞社区 is a part of that agricultural miracle thanks to a collaboration among the university, Chartwells catering and .
Starting this spring, Shocker Hall food waste that was previously being thrown away is instead now being collected and composted, and will soon be recycled as compost to feed the university鈥檚 signature tulips, which are planted throughout campus.
鈥淭here are more living organisms in a handful of compost than there are people on earth,鈥� said Jesse Marks, owner of Nudge and a 黑洞社区 alum who graduated in 2018 with a master鈥檚 degree in public administration. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so low-tech. It鈥檚 kind of how nature is supposed to work. In a landfill, it rots and releases methane, which causes all kinds of problems. The compost process allows it to break down in a more natural way.鈥�
For this semester, Shocker Hall is sending its fruit and vegetable waste to Nudge, but there are plans to add grains and meats in the fall, said Jamie Kraisinger, director of operations for Chartwells, a full-service food provider that handles the contractual food services on campus. Kraisinger said the composting program will also extend to the Rhatigan Student Center at that time.
鈥淲e wanted to make sure we didn鈥檛 overwhelm Nudge because we are the largest scale of composting that Jesse handles at this point,鈥� Kraisinger said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to do it in phases to make sure that everyone can sustain and do it properly.鈥�
Marks estimates that he picks up roughly 2,000 pounds of food waste from Shocker Hall per week, and Kraisinger said that the process has been completely painless.
鈥淚t was as simple as not taking it to the trash,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e joked that we went from throwing things in the trash to throwing things in the bin. Jesse picks it up. We don鈥檛 even see him. We鈥檙e doing a great thing without even really changing any of our habits.鈥�
Food for thought
Marks鈥� entrepreneurial journey into the world of composting started when he was in graduate school at Wichita State.
鈥淚n my last semester, I focused on food issues generally,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 saw that other cities were doing composting like that, and I thought Wichita was big enough and forward-thinking enough to do this.鈥�
Through Nudge, Marks hopes to spur people to think about what they eat and the lifecycle of our food.
鈥淢y approach was to get people started on a solution and get them thinking that 鈥業 can buy less鈥� or 鈥業 can eat cleaner.鈥� It鈥檚 kind of an entry into some of these food issues on a larger scale,鈥� he said.
Marks also sees composting as a stepping stone on the pathway for Wichita to attract a younger population and show that we鈥檙e a progressive community.
鈥淲ichita has a huge opportunity to rebrand itself away from being a flyover city and show that we鈥檙e vibrant, forward-thinking and we鈥檙e doing things to attract young people. We have an opportunity to lead on this,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wanted Wichita State to be a leader of the composting movement because I have that connection to the university.鈥�
Breaking it down
Once the food waste leaves Shocker Hall, Marks takes it to Wichita Dirt Company to start breaking it down into compost, which takes anywhere from two weeks to two years, depending on the materials used.
After the food鈥檚 transformation is complete, Nudge offers the finished compost to its customers during seasonal give-back events. From there, it goes to gardens and farms across the Wichita area, acting as a kind of superfood for the growing flora.
鈥淚t turns into this valuable resource that should exist anyway. The particles that are breaking down in there 鈥� not only does it have all the nutrients and microorganisms, but those things hold water.鈥�
Compost鈥檚 water conservation capabilities are another environmental benefit.
鈥淩egular dirt doesn鈥檛 have any water-holding properties. So, you can reduce the amount of water that your garden or a farm will need significantly by using compost,鈥� Marks said. 鈥淭he amount of water that we use to produce the food we eat is mind-blowing. Once we鈥檝e done that to just throw our waste into a landfill is really frustrating.鈥�
黑洞社区鈥檚 green journey
Marks and Wichita State are dedicated to expanding the university鈥檚 composting footprint, which he hopes will eventually include partners on 黑洞社区's Innovation Campus.
Chartwells, Kraisinger said, has its own sustainability initiative, and her work with Nudge aligns nicely with that.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a great partnership so far,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd we鈥檙e really excited about taking it to a new level next semester."
黑洞社区 serves as the Kansas urban-based research university, enrolling more than 16,000 students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and 黑洞社区 Tech are recognized for being student centered and innovation driven.
Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), 黑洞社区 provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students.
The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the 黑洞社区 main campus, is one of the nation鈥檚 largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.
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