Spring 2001, Steffee B.103
This in-vessel composter located at the Ontario Science Center in Toronto is similar to the
composter that will be arriving at Allegheny in May, 2001.
This in-vessel composter located at the Ontario Science Center in Toronto is similar to the
composter that will be arriving at Allegheny in May, 2001.
Instructor: Eric Pallant, Department of Environmental Science
Office: Doane Hall of Chemistry 202
Office Hours: Monday 2:45 - 4:45 P.M.
Tuesday and Thursday 2:00 - 4:00, and by appointment
E-mail: epallant@allegheny.edu
or click on mailbox 
Click hand to go to Pallant home page 
I was there at the beginning and it happened like this. It was Allegheny's end of the year picnic for all employees, 1999. It was raining so the picnic was moved indoors to Brooks Dining Hall. President Cook was feeling good. Another year was drawing to a close. He was holding a beer when he was approached by Etienne Ozorak, then the Director of the Crawford County Solid Waste Authority. Etienne asked the President if he'd be willing to be the recipient of an in-vessel composter if the county submitted a grant proposal on behalf of the college. "Sure," said Mr. Cook.
The grant proposal to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was approved at the end of 2000 and Allegheny will be receiving a machine worth nearly $100,000 in May, 2001, but that's the easy part. The college needs to build a concrete pad out at Robertson Field, bring water and electricity to the pad, purchase chippers, collection bins, trucks for hauling, gather the right ratio of carbon to nitrogen, train staff and students and so on. That's where we come in. Ken Hanna, Allegheny's Director of Physical Plant, has asked us to devise a plan for him. The more I think about what might go into that plan, the more I realize that the acquisition of a composter provides an opportunity to rethink the entire through-put of the college. What gets purchased, how things are used and reused, and what gets disposed of by recycling, composting, or waste hauling are all subject to evaluation.
All of the components of your environmental education to date will come into play this semester. Issues of education, economics, waste minimization, consumption, agriculture, biochemistry and community organizing will all be part of our discussion.
This is a schematic of the in-vessel composter. Unlike windrow composting this composter is capable of digesting fats, paper and cardboard very quickly.
Plan of Attack. The amount of meeting time as a group is both limited and concentrated. We meet just once a week. That means you will need to be especially diligent during the rest of the week and in addition, you will have to be reliable in contacting me and other members of the class (by e-mail) as you gather information. We'll begin the class with two weeks of David Orr. No one is better at describing how colleges teach outside their classrooms, that is what their buildings, grounds, investments, purchasing, and maintanance practices teach students and visitors (contradictory) lessons while classes are being taught in the classrooms. Then we dive in. We develop a plan that will be presented to the college by the end of the semester. We will address the following items.
Early on in my career at Allegheny the senior member of the ES Department used to introduce The Comp this way. He would smile and say, "Face it, the reason you decided to come to Allegheny College was so you could have the opportunity to work on a comp." He always managed to pull it off, but whenever I try the same line I see a lot of gasps, blushes, foot shuffling and a general rise in blood pressure. NOT TO FEAR. You'll get through it. Everyone does. To facilitate the process, I will be having you work on your comp proposal at the same time you are doing the composting plan. That means you will be required to do double duty. Begin by reading over the requirements for this year's comp students.
All reports to be prepared as both written and graphical format. You will also present your data for feedback and critique to the rest of the group. Deadlines will be adjusted as the semester proceeds.
Date Compost Assignments Comp Assignments Jan 17 Plan of attack, choosing a research plan. Describe comp process 24 Read pages 1-88 Earth in Mind by David W. Orr.
Read Campus Ecology excerpts from reader.
Modify research plan.
Begin research for comp topics 31 Read pages 89-130 Earth in Mind by David W. Orr.
Read Ecodemia excerpts from reader.
Solve problems with research plan.
Ken Hanna visits class.
Begin research for comp topics Feb 7 Read pages 131-205 Earth in Mind by David W. Orr AND hand in a 750-word essay describing how Orr's book should influence our thinking about the composting plan.
Read Mike Erb's comp, Quantitative Analysis... from reader.
Begin research for comp topics 14 Data presentations Hand in comp question (no more than three questions) 21 Data presentations Hand in reviews of two completed comps 28 Data presentations Mar 7 First Draft of Report completed 14 Revise First draft of report Comp Proposal first draft due 21 Spring Break Spring Break 28 Revise First draft of report Comp proposal presentations Apr 4 Revise First draft of report Comp proposal presentations 11 Revise First draft of report Comp proposal presentations 18 Presentation of Report to Ken Hanna, Marcus Buckley (Allegheny CFO) Comp proposal presentations 25 Comp proposal second draft due Due Dates subject to change, pending progress on composting plan.
Comp Proposal, First Draft of Introduction and Methods completed by March 14, 2000. This includes:
- Introduction and literature review of at least 15 references
- Methods
- Timetable
- Expected results
- Review of two earlier comps
Presentation of Comps from March 28 - April 25.
Grades will be based on class participation, i.e., the quality and intensity of your critique of other's presentations (15%), your 750-word essay (15% each), the quality of your research, writing and presentation of findings for your portion of the composting plan (50%), Comp first draft, Comp second draft (10% each).
Useful Links
The
Vision, an essay by the outgoing Director of Second
Nature describes the role that higher education can and should play in reforming
society. This is a nice companion piece to David Orr's book.
The National Wildlife Federation's
Campus Ecology Program is one of the best in the country. There are sure
to be contacts here that will pertain to the class. A
must visit website. 
Here's the scoop on the in-vessel composter the college is receiving. It is being manufactured by Wright Environmental in Canada.
If you find more links you think would be useful, please send them to me.