Fifty-five tonnes. That’s more than 25 elephants, or more than 50 polar bears. It’s also the amount of waste that has been diverted from the Bay of Islands’ landfill in 2014, thanks to the composter at Grenfell Campus.

The province’s only industrial composter has been in operation since 2012, and has worked to reduce Grenfell’s carbon footprint by facilitating up to a 20 per cent decrease in the amount of waste students, staff and faculty produce.

Throughout campus, including residence and chalet apartments, members of the Grenfell community choose to dispose of organic waste in green compost bins, rather than trash cans. This waste is then added to the composter, where it is used in Grenfell’s community garden.

The compost served another interesting purpose this summer. Bones from a whale that washed up near the community of Rocky Harbour were buried in Grenfell’s compost as a means to remove flesh from them. The bones will remain in the compost for about a year, after which they will be used for teaching and display purposes at both Grenfell Campus and the Bonne Bay Marine Station at Norris Point.

A challenge with the composter has been maintaining the right balance between food waste and other materials, like shredded paper and sawdust, which help to balance the carbon levels and sustain optimal moisture levels. Without enough carbon, the decomposition inside the composting chamber can get too moist and the process will actually be much less effective. In 2014, approximately 20 thousand pounds of paper and sawdust was used to keep the compost operation functional.

Peter Smith, program assistant, compost and sustainability at Grenfell, is working with the campus population to encourage the shredding of paper for the composter. He has also formed partnerships in the community to ensure sufficient amounts of shredded paper become available.