Raincoast

Recently I put together a research project with the help of the Center for Sustainable Food Systems and the UBC SEEDS program to develop an on-site composting program at the UBC farm. I was surprised to learn that this was not already happening, but I soon realized why. It would be a huge undertaking…

Although composting is of interest to me, what drew me into this project was the ability for a farm-composting operation to contribute to the 2015 Zero-Waste Campus goals of the university. According to the 2010 waste management study, ~40% of all the waste that the UBC campus sends to the landfill is compostable organic waste. Add to that the fact that the UBC farm purchases tonnes of compost each year for their normal operations, and it seemed like a win-win situation.

There are multiple methods of composting that will meet the Organic Matter Recycling Regulations in British Columbia, but whichever method we choose must be able to function on the existing 80’x50′ concrete pad at the farm.

The operation must be able to accommodate variable volumes of organic material throughout the year while remaining viable.

First steps will be assessing whether or not an agricultural grade compost can be produced from the feedstock available on campus. Once the correct ratio of organics and bulking agents are obtained, how much and how frequently organic waste is collected from UBC can be determined.

Hopefully, this program can divert a significant amount of UBC’s organic waste from the landfill, contributing to the 2015 Zero Waste targets.

Updates on this project will follow as it progesses!

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The competitive world of academia often leaves us as students feeling deficient in some way when we compare ourselves to others. Having recently read a collection of works, Letters to a Young Poet, by the German poet and author Rainer Maria Rilke, I felt it appropriate to share the messages I took away from it. The letters in this compilation provide guidance for anyone, in any stage of life, to grow as an individual.

To clarify, art, indescribable as it is I feel refers to any expression of creativity, while an artist can be anyone who is truly an individual, offering something unique in everything they do.

So much today we measure and weigh ourselves against others and from a young age, and are taught to do and think on the basis of approval from others. All the while neglecting to take time and learn what truly makes us happy as an individual. However, a feeling of happiness can be manufactured and obtained from any number of external sources. Perhaps not taking the time to learn what makes us complete is a more apt statement. What is it we must do, what do we need to do to feel complete as an individual, and resist becoming the appropriation of external pressures. Rilke suggests that the way to do this is to look into ourselves and find the thing that we would rather die if we were forbidden to do it. Once we find this, and know fully what makes us whole, can we know who we are as an individual and share that through our art.

Rilke’s commentary about love may be the most influential topic in his letters. When he discusses love, he is not strictly referring to romantic love, but I believe he is talking about anything that takes up an individual’s time and has expectations.  As he explains when a two people fall in love, “each of them looses themselves for the sake of the other”. Before jumping into any relationship (be it a person, career etc…) we must have grown into our individuality in solitude, otherwise we will be left with disappointment and unfulfillment.

Throughout Rilke’s ten letters, there is a reoccurring message; to encourage slow and deep learning through self-experience, unaltered by the thoughts and critiques of others and to not look for acknowledgment from anyone but oneself, “nothing touches a work of art so little as words of criticism”.

If there was one quote to summarize Rilke’s attitude towards art, I feel it would be this; “being an artist means not numbering and counting, but ripening like a tree”. Simply, the ripeness of the fruit does not depend on the age of the tree so much as what the tree has taken through its roots.

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The city of Vancouver has pledged to become the greenest city in the world by 2020. To accomplish this goal, the city has identified three areas of focus, concentrating efforts on issues relating to carbon, waste, and ecosystems.

Food is one aspect of any city that relates to all three of these areas. Carbon from the processing and transportation of food, and emissions from livestock and the subsequent release of gasses from the decomposition of food waste are heavy contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions. Vancouver has vowed to increase city-wide food assets by 50% from 2010 levels, reducing dependance on foreign imports and Vancouver’s carbon footprint. To increase our food independence, vancouver is developing a municipal food strategy that incorporates all aspects of our food system. The strategy includes creating six new community gardens, three new urban farms, encouraging new farmers markets, and developing a Vancouver Food Hub.

The “Green Bin” program is also part of this strategy, addressing the issue of food waste, and realizing its position as an important part of the food system. The food we put in the Green Bin is turned into compost and can be purchased from the Vancouver landfill for a nominal $20 per tonne.

Vancouver’s food system is just one of the areas being targeted for reform by the city. The complete 2020 Vancouver Green Action Plan can be found here.

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Another very cool waste conversion project was started by my good friend Rolf Eriksen, owner of the Happy Acres Sewage Processing Plant located on Orcas Island in Washington State. As a side business, Rolf began trucking sewage off Orcas, and bringing potable water onto the island (in different trucks of course) to augment the groundwater that often ran dry in the summer months. With the percent of actual “waste” in sewage being very small,  in essence Rolf was transporting costly loads of water nearly 400 miles off the island to be spread on fields to decompose. Seeing as the island had chronic water supply shortages, this method of disposing of the island’s sewage did not seem practical, or economical. Coupled with rising disposal, fuel and ferry costs, Rolf decided their had to be an alternative way to deal with Orcas Island’s sewage that would be better for the environment, and make some money!

After doing some research and investing in the necessary equipment, a small sewage treatment plant was developed. At first, the process consisted of simply separating the solids (paper, bottle caps feminine hygiene products etc…) from the water.

Solid Separator

But it wasn’t simply the human waste and garbage that needed to be removed for the sewage to be turned into usable products. The problem was the heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, and toxic sanitation chemicals we flush down the pipe along with our waste. by injecting the filtered sewage with polymer compounds, the suspended solids bind together to form particles large enough to physically filter from the water.

The liquid that remains is water suitable for agricultural irrigation with biological content of 2 ppm. Most municipal water systems do not supply water this clean.

The biosolid component of this sewage is rich in nutrients, but also contains many pathogens that can cause illness and disease. These biosolids are difficult and expensive to transport to disposal facilities. As an alternative to disposal, Happy Acres decided to turn this solid waste into grade “A” fertilizer. By squeezing the biosolids through a “geotube” and removing any further water from the mixture. The remaining solids are left to compost with the addition of other organic material (leaf litter, wood chips…). The composting process generates temperatures of up to 151 degrees Fahrenheit, which, when harnessed, heats a nearby greenhouse.

As with most forms of waste, sewage is not an end product. It is a critical part of system that needs to be addressed, and not simply forgotten about after “the flush”. Rolf has not invented any new technology to carry out the treatment of raw septage. However, it is the fact that he has brought together different processes to show that waste can be turned into many useable products that benefit both humans and the environment.

Sewage is something that most people will be more than happy to keep out of sight and out of mind. But it should be looked upon as a crude substance, waiting for it’s usefulness to be realized.

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During a trip through Oregon this summer with a good friend, I picked up The Oregonian during breakfast, and on the front page was a most interesting story titled “Waste? Or energy to burn”. The article explained how the Gresham municipal treatment plant near Portland was planning to save over half a million dollars annually by becoming energy self-sufficient using the city’s waste.

The plant already harnesses methane gas from sewage and uses solar panels to generate enough electricity, to save about $20,000 a month. But the Gresham treatment plant is investing a further $750,000 in equipment and infrastructure for the ability to generate electricity with the addition of fats, oils and greases from restaurants to its endless supply of sewage, eliminating annual power bills of $570,000.

The fats, oils and greases (or FOG) would normally be hauled from restaurants by private companies to be “de-watered” and dumped in the landfill. By using the process of anaerobic digestion, the Gresham treatment plant harnesses the volatile gasses released by the decomposition of the FOG and solid waste. This gas, consisting  of dense greenhouse gasses such as methane, nitrogen and hydrogen sulfide, is burned to create electricity. This very cool process not only means that the Gresham wastewater treatment plant will be powered completely by renewable energy, but that it will simultaneously keep approximately 10,000 gallons of fats, oils and grease out of the landfill every day.

Creating energy through anaerobic digestion is not a new idea, and the technology is widely available. Every municipal wastewater treatment facility has the ability to expand beyond merely keeping sewage out of rivers, but to become resource recovery facilities.

More on anaerobic digestion here

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Thanks for visiting the Raincoast! A little about me: I am currently in my second year as part of the Global Resource Systems program at UBC, and I love waste!

More specifically I love the many things we are able to do with waste. We often think of waste as an end of usefulness, but it can be a valuable part of our food and energy system. From creating energy, fertilizer, fuel, or livestock feed, to reclaiming potable water and keeping perfectly usable materials out of landfills; the possibilities are almost endless as to what we can do with waste.

Visit the Raincoast blog regularly to keep up to date on the great projects happening locally and around the world that focus on waste conversion and renewable energy.

Thanks for reading, I look forward to start sharing!

Erik

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