Old Dominion University
OP-T2-23: Compost

ODU does not perform composting in the now more popular sense of the word; e.g. using decomposing food waste and garden clipping to make soil. ODU does however perform composting on a regular basis in the sense that we use decaying matter to rejuvenate the soils. All of the mowing equipment in the Grounds Department uses what is called a ‘recycler deck’. You may be familiar with concept of the weekend warrior mowing their lawn and then raking all of the clippings into trash bags for the garbage pick-up. With a recycling deck, all of that leaf material is kept in a vacuum within the cutting blades, just long enough to be diced into little pieces. These diced pieces of turf grass are then deposited back onto the surface soil immediately after cutting by the mower itself. The grass clippings have a very small nitrogen ratio that can be absorbed into the soil and taken up by healthy growing turf grass.

ODU occasionally participates in donating some of their tree limb cuttings to the VA Zoo. Certain tree species, such as the crepe myrtle, make an excellent food source for elephants and other large mammals. This is really an ‘as needed’ program upon request from the zoo, but is another example of outside the box thinking which takes us further towards achieving our sustainability goals.

ODU does currently take the wood chips from the City of Norfolk and from regional tree service providers to use as mulch. As city trees are removed or pruned, those limbs get put through what is known as a wood chipper. The result is often a quality much that can then be put down in the landscape for decorative effect. Currently, ODU works with the City of Norfolk to accept some of their wood chips. In a similar fashion the wood chip results from all tree removals and pruning services performed on campus by tree service providers are subsequently reused as mulch in our landscapes.

ODU lies within a city district. The large scale in-house composting of food waste from our cafeterias and restaurants make seem like a great idea, but would quickly become a public health catastrophe as rats, mice, opossums, and other scavenging animals discovered its whereabouts. This is problem we seek to solve, as technology provides better options for containment and recyclability in-house composting could become a reality one day.