Exterior Spaces Group
Problem 1: What are the Environmental Impacts of Campus Grounds Maintenance?

Analysis of current situation

Grounds maintenance at Rice University is a vital part of the standard functioning of the campus system.  This requires the input of energy in the form of labor, fuel and materials.  Maintenance has environmental impacts both internal and external to the campus system.  A primary impact is the generation of yardwaste in the form of leaves and wood.  While this waste has very little impact on its own, its removal involves all of the impacts associated with transportation (fuel consumption, emissions, vehicle maintenance, landscape damage) and collection (if leaf-blowers are used).  Another large impact is the use of chemicals (herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers) to maintain the health and homogeneity of campus trees.  These compounds have hazardous effects both in production and in application, but are necessary to maintain the campus in its current state. Many of the impacts associated with grounds maintenance have been moved off campus (like the use of electric carts, "moving" the transportation-related emissions from campus to the Houston power plant).  And, of course, all of this input of energy and materials has its associated economic costs as well.

Decision Criteria

In evaluating these impacts, a guiding principle is to increase the rate of internal recycling within the campus system.  There is no need to transport nutrients (in the form of yardwaste) off campus only to then pay more and transport other nutrients (fertilizer) back onto campus. Another criterion is to reduce transportation and the associated impacts.  Another criterion is the location of the impact (on-campus whenever possible).  All else being equal, it is better for the campus to have the impact off-campus without generating negative externalities (perhaps by using areas constructed or own by Rice).  Another important criterion is aesthetics.  The campus's appearance and presentation is a vital commodity that must be maintained.  But how that appearance is maintained can be altered.  One perspective for evaluating this is the trade-off between uniformity and diversity. Another criteria related to aesthetics as well as grounds maintenance is the prevalence of native versus exotic plants. A final criterion is that the campus be recognized as providing some pedagogical value to its inhabitants and needs to be considered not only as a place of learning, but as a place for learning.

Summary of Criteria

Proposed Action

Cost/Impact Reduction

One-quarter to one-half of the trash going to landfills in Texas is made up of yard trimmings and food waste.  These materials may be combined and, by natural organic reactions, turned into compost.  When added to garden soils, compost makes soil and plants healthier, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers and chemicals; conserves water by improving soils so that water penetrates more easily and stays in the soil longer.

The bottom line is that disposal fees may double or triple as landfills start to fill up. The best solution lies in a combination of activities that will cut the volume of our trash that needs to be disposed.  Composting is nature's way of recycling organic wastes into new soil that will nourish the native plants. (TNRCC Master Composter Planning Guide 1994).

Twenty-four states either ban yard waste from landfill disposal or require composting programs, yet Texas is still not one of these (Waste Age/Recycling Times' Recycling Handbook 1995).  Rice can become a pioneer in Texas and among elite private universities in the region by beginning an on-campus composting program.  It not only can make Rice an environmental educator to the immediate surrounding communities and the city of Houston as a whole, but to the entire region, country and world as thousands of visitors come to campus every year.
 

Problem 2: Composting

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