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Proposal for UGreen Initiative for Students

Prepared for

Executive Branch of Student Government

Prepared by Michelle Buchbinder

and Rebecca Kaplan

December 4, 2017

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………….………………….2 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………….…………….. 3 Statement of a Problem 3 Background and Review 3 Examples 4 Need 5 Benefits 6

● Economic 6 ● Social 7 ● Education 7

Objections and Drawbacks 7 PLAN…………………………………………………………………………………………….8 Objectives 8 Execution 8 Expected Results 10 Funding 10 CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………....11 Summary 11 Request for Action 12 WORK CITED……………………………………………………………………………….....13

ABSTRACT Campus agriculture and sustainability projects have been increasingly successful over the

past decade. It is an area that the University of Miami is currently lacking in, but could benefit

from greatly if actions are taken to diversify the options it provides for its students. The UGreen

initiative aims at creating an on campus garden as well as a composting program. The garden

will be able to provide easy access to fresh, organic foods throughout the semesters. The

composting program will collect food waste from campus as well as students which will be used

to support the garden. Together, these programs will enable the University of Miami to become a

more environmentally friendly campus that is increasing its sustainability and offering its

students healthy food options.

INTRODUCTION Statement of a Problem

The University of Miami currently has a USustainability program that offers various

events that aim to spread awareness about sustainability and environmental issues. While a

terrific initiative, a lot of their events are not very highly publicized and a lack of awareness still

permeates throughout the entire student body. Generally, there is a lack of empathy toward

sustainability and environmental consciousness among the general student body as well. A large

issue with USustainability’s initiative is their lack of exposure to their events. Because of this,

many students are not aware of the events that they hold on campus and thus do not have the

opportunity to be exposed to information regarding environmental issues around campus and

around the world.

Also, the campus arboretum is lacking a public garden. The arboretum is in a very remote

area of campus, located on the edge of campus along Campo Sano Avenue, this area is not

exposed to a lot of foot traffic and a lot of students are not even aware that an arboretum exists.

This is the perfect time for the development of a campus garden in a more accessible location,

especially in the wake of Hurricane Irma, that disturbed and destroyed large sections of the

existing campus arboretum. On top of that, the arboretum is mostly only home to trees, not

edible produce and herbs.

Lastly, there is no current on-campus composting initiative. Composting, a key

component in organic farming and sustainability, is composed of organic matter and waste. It is a

rather simple process, yet the University of Miami is lacking any form of on-campus composting

bins or areas. Currently, no on-campus dining halls or food vendors compost their waste. Our

initiative aims to amend these issues.

EXAMPLES

In the past few years, there has been a significant increase of such initiatives taking place

in campuses across the country. George Mason University in Virginia started their Potomac

Heights Vegetable Garden during their spring 2009 semester. At GMU, a student organization

oversees the community garden and the club organizes events to educate their student body about

sustainability. They also use vegetables grown in their campus garden to be sold to one of their

dining facilities.

In the Midwest, The University of Minnesota at Morris partnered with student

organizations interested in sustainability and environmental issues, local businesses, and Native

American tribes to start a community garden on their campus to honor traditional Native

American agricultural techniques. In 2011, Dominican University, located in Illinois, launched

their community garden and rely on student, staff, faculty, and community volunteers to upkeep

their garden but also engage local school children to help with the community gardening efforts.

Their goal is promote outreach and education about sustainability and the environment. Their

garden is watered every morning and volunteers take shifts a day or two each week to educate

others about their gardening efforts. This campus also utilizes composting; campus leftovers like

coffee grounds, eggshells, and other organic waste is collected and used throughout the garden.

Here, garden volunteers are free to pick produce freely for their own use and whatever is leftover

is donated.

Down south at the University of Texas at Austin, students organized the Concho

Community Garden, a space that provides all students and faculty a space to grow produce. At

this campus, all the food grown in their garden is used for personal consumption, in on-campus

dining halls, and the remainder is donated to local citizens in need. Out West in California,

Pamona College also established their own community garden. The garden is used for

educational and business purposes. Students can maintain the garden and test the soil for science

purposes or utilize the garden to write papers and these for topics on environmental policy or the

sciences. Pamona students hold a bi-weekly farm stand where the produce grown at the garden is

sold to not only students, but around their community.

In our home state of New Jersey, Rutgers University runs the “nation’s largest organic

farm managed by students.” (3 Universities with Exceptional Community Gardens). This farm is

completely run by Rutgers students. Rutgers also offers a year-long internship for a handful of

students to manage the entire farm’s operation, offering students experience and skills in

agriculture, business, management, and the biological and environmental sciences. All the food

that is grown on the Rutgers farm is donated to local food banks and those in need in the

community.

NEED

Currently on the University of Miami campus, there is a serious lack of environmental

education, student awareness, and most importantly, there is an absence of an on-campus

community garden. On top of that, there is no current composting program in place either.

Current student programming and student organizations, such as USustainability, have limited

outreach on our campus. Current efforts by these groups receive limited exposure and thus the

Miami student body greatly lacks awareness on environmental issues.

Also, there is a great need for fresher food options on campus. The survey we distributed

to a sample of students showed that 84% of students believe there are not enough fresh food

options campus. The “freshest” food option, the Wednesday Farmer’s Market, does sell fresh

produce but is only available on select Wednesdays a semester and 61% of students think the

prices are somewhat unreasonable and 15% of students think the prices are very unreasonable for

fresh produce there. Additionally, a common complaint among the student body is the lack of

fresh food options in the two dining halls and in Outtakes.

BENEFITS Economic

A community garden could serve to save students and faculty money in the short and

long-term. Short term, no one on campus would be forced to pay an exorbitant amount of money

for fresh produce. For students who live on campus, a community garden could save them a trip

to the grocery store, which is even more beneficial to those who live on campus and do not have

a car. In the long-term, all the savings from utilizing the community garden on a regular basis

would add up.

A composting initiative would also save money in the long run. Compost has been shown

to enrich plants and decrease the need for pesticides and special fertilizers. Compost also yields a

higher growth rate for crops.

Social

The community garden presents many social advantages as well. Placed in essentially the

heart of campus, the garden is a great place to gather and socialize with friends. The garden also

presents a volunteer opportunity to anyone interested in getting involved. Finally, the garden

provides students the opportunity to work together as a community toward one common goal:

providing fresh food for the University of Miami campus.

Educational

Many students will benefit from a community garden educationally as well. Students

studying the biological sciences can utilize the garden to sample soil and examine it in their labs,

as BIL 150 and the accompanying lab often do. It can also provide the opportunity for new

classes that focus on agriculture and sustainability which can have a hands on component outside

of the classroom. This can involve either an interactive part during class or separate lab that

focuses on either the composting program or layout and operations of the garden.

OBJECTIONS AND DRAWBACKS

As with all significant projects, common concerns about the community garden and the

composting initiative is cost and effectiveness. One way to curb the cost is to include an optional small

payment in student tuition. As for effectiveness, if everyone is enthusiastic about the garden and the

composting initiative, it has a great chance of being effective. The largest obstacle to overcome is

upkeeping the community garden. College life gets hectic but in order for such a project to succeed,

interested students must commit to maintaining the garden. The community garden will require a lot of

upkeep and volunteers.

A few drawbacks of the composting initiative is that compost often has an unpleasant odor, which

can fester under the hot Florida sun and potentially have an adverse effect to our campus. The garden and

the compost also have the potential to attract unfriendly pests and animals such as cockroaches, raccoons,

rats, and maybe even alligators. These efforts also run the risk of being swiftly destroyed in a natural

disaster such as a hurricane and thus might not be permanent fixtures on our campus.

PLAN Objectives

The objective of this initiative is to implement the two sustainability measures of growing

an on campus garden as well as composting of food waste. The garden will provide students with

an option to purchase fresh foods and the compositing will decrease University of Miami’s

environmental footprint.

Execution

Composting requires three ingredients that can all be obtained on campus. Browns such

as dead leaves, branches, and twigs can be collected around campus easily. Greens include food

waste such as fruit, vegetables, pasta, rice, bread, egg shells, tea bags, and coffee grounds as well

as paper and empty toilet paper rolls. This can be collected by setting up disposal bins around

campus for dining services and students to throw out their waste in. Overall, it repurposes waste

and reduces the need for chemical fertilizer which further helps the environment. The last

ingredient is water.

Building the garden requires setting up plots, utilizing the compost, and acquiring seeds

for desired produce to be grown. A common practice for planting on campus gardens has been to

have separate raised-bed plots. To begin, 20 four-by-eight plots would be plotted in the center of

the Foote University Green in the middle of campus. This will span 640 square foot. The foote

A. George Mason University Garden B. Washington University Garden

green is the perfect location because it is in the path of direct sunlight and also in a centralized

location of campus so it will get exposure among students. Also, it is a huge area of land that

remains mostly unused during the semesters and summers by students and can instead provide a

means of food while also bringing students together. A survey will be conducted among students

to find out which fresh produce the student population would most like the opportunity to

purchase. The garden will begin with choosing five vegetables to grow and depending on

demand and popularity the garden can expand number of plots and variety of produce grown.

Many campuses that started on campus gardens have a club that are in charge of the

garden and are head of organizing volunteers. Volunteering at the garden will be open to all

students and the articles posted interviewing clubs running on campus gardens discuss the

amount of interest they receive from the student population and that there is sufficient turnout of

volunteers each week to keep the garden successful. Our survey showed that 40% of students

said yes and 20% of students said maybe that they would volunteer on an campus garden which

is over half of students. Additionally, the garden can be taken care of in the summer by being

part of summer camp activities. The University of Miami has huge summer camp programs and

it can be an activity kids choose to take part in during their week. It is a great way for kids to

learn about sustainability and get to eat fresh produce that they contributed to growing

themselves as well.

Expected Results

There are currently over 300 universities in the United States with some sort of

agriculture project being taken on. The University of Miami can acquire the means to take part as

well and tremendously improve fresh food options to students while also providing students with

a way to decrease their footprint on the environment through food waste. It will also give

students the opportunity to actively participate in their food cycle process and be part of a

community setting with peers volunteering at the garden. The survey showed that 60% of

students said they are somewhat interested and 22% of students said they are very interested in

environmental issues on campus. Washington University which is a slightly smaller school with

an on campus garden has shown to sell around $100 of produce to students a week and we

believe a garden on this campus would sell around the same amount of produce. Overall, the

UGreen initiative will bring students together while working towards being more

environmentally friendly as well as offer students fresh produce, an area many students

consistently discuss a lack thereof.

Funding

This initiative will be funded by an option offered to students to pay an additional $5 or

$10 when paying their semester tuition. This was an approach used at Gonzaga University which

is a school that is similar in size and tuition rates and was able to raise $20,000 for an on campus

garden by these means. The survey distributed to a sample of students showed that 55% of

students said they would pay an extra $5 a semester when paying tuition to fun an on campus.

Based on this result, that is at least 5,000 student which would translate to $25,000 in funds for

the garden. The funds will also be used to purchase the collection bins to be placed around

campus for the composting ingredients. Once the garden begins to sell produce, it will be

self-sustaining financially where any money made will be put back into the garden to grow more

produce. This will provide students with a means of buying affordable fresh produce.

Additionally, students will be able to pay $15 for the semester to have their own plot to grow

whatever they would like. This will provide more funding to continue expanding the garden as

well.

CONCLUSION

Summary

The UGreen initiative is a way to spread awareness about environmental and

sustainability issues throughout the University of Miami campus. There are a variety of

educational, social, and economic benefits for both students and faculty. It also helps the

environment, which should be a priority due to today’s climate change prevalence. The garden

will provide everyone on campus with ready access to fresh produce while the composting

program will collect organic waste from food vendors around campus as well as students to be

used in the garden’s soil. These programs are designed to work together to make UM a more

environmentally-conscious campus with its finger on the pulse of current sustainability issues.

Request for Action

We are requesting that the Executive Branch of Student Government consider this

proposal to implement both an on a campus garden as well as a composting program. These

measures will make the University of Miami more environmentally conscious while also

providing students with affordable means for healthy food options.

Work Cited

“Composting At Home.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 20 Mar. 2017,

www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home.

Egelhoff, Rose. “5 Colleges Where Students Are Getting Creative with Sustainable Agriculture.”