A Green Station at Kirkwood Community College
At Kirkwood Community College’s cafés (called simply The Café and Café Mini on the main campus in Cedar Rapids), patrons are likely to see their chefs, servers and baristas wearing a kelly green tee shirt reading, “Keep Calm and Compost On.” This is part of the school’s recent aggressive commingling and composting campaign urging students, staff and faculty to think before they toss their trash.
Kirkwood launched its new recycling program in the 2011 school year and won the Governor’s award for recycling in 2012. In the beginning, the college adopted a formal Waste Reduction Policy put in place to help Kirkwood meet the goal of 75 percent landfill diversion by 2014 – a goal that Kirkwood leadership is confident the college has met and possibly already exceeded. A grant from the DNR enabled the Facilities department to place commingling bins alongside trash receptacles in every hallway on every floor in every building on campus.
At first, the lines between commingling, recycling and composting seemed to confuse consumers on campus, which prompted the college to place helpful stations in the commons area near The Café and directive posters over high-use waste bins. The college defined each as follows:
- Recyclable items include plastic cups, coffee lids and utensils; paper, cardboard, magazine and newspaper; and soup cans and aluminum.
- Items eligible for commingling items include paper, cardboard, magazine and newspaper; soda and water bottles; cleaned food cans.
- Compostable items include food waste and specialized food containers, including natural packaging, napkins and utensils.
The Cafés and The Hotel at Kirkwood Center all practice composting, the results of which are spread on the main campus’ herb and chef gardens and grape vines, creating a miniature sustainable ecosystem on Kirkwood grounds. Those gardens and vines help produce award-winning food and wine for The Class Act Restaurant and The Winery at Kirkwood.