By Amy Eddings

As a biology/pre-med major at Ohio Northern University, Michael Chad Bridges didn’t think he’d be studying food waste. But that’s exactly where the 21-year-old’s senior project has led him.  His research has so convinced Bridges of the economic and environmental value of composting, he’s spoken with ONU officials and the village council of Ada about investing in a system to compost food scraps.

You could say he was inspired by love.

"My girlfriend is from Ottawa, Canada,” said Bridges, where the province of Ontario requires food waste composting. "I was intrigued by that.  Being from Michigan, from the Detroit area (Farmington Hills), landfill space is a big issue. This is a way that we can reduce that waste stateside."

As part of his research, Bridges wanted to learn how much food waste the average Adaite generated.  He enlisted “ten to fifteen” ONU faculty members to separate their food waste for a month.  He collected each participant’s scraps weekly, and weighed them.

"I did this in the winter so it was hard, picking up frozen food waste,” said Bridges.  He found that Adaites were throwing away each day, on average, about a third of a pound of food.  That, he said, beats the rest of the country.  “Right now, the national average is about a half a pound."

Bridges estimated that ONU and the village generate about 7 tons of food waste a week. 

In a recent presentation to the village council, the senior told officials that if they invested between $188,000 to $250,000 in a containerized system to compost those food scraps, they could save $25,000 a year in landfill fees. 

“It’s definitely a big bill initially,” said, Bridges, "but the pay off in the long run can be through the roof."

Bridges had hoped that the village would submit an application, due earlier this month, for a federal grant to offset the cost of a composting system.  But the council turned him down, saying they needed more time to study the issue.

“We have many questions to answer first before we get into this,” said Village Administrator Jim Meyer, including operational costs and whether the compost that’s generated would need to be tested for contaminants.

ONU’s Director of Sustainability, Terry Keiser, said he supports the idea for the university, but they, too, need more time.  “I would certainly consider supporting it financially next year,” he said. 

For Michael Chad Bridges, he’s learned lessons in how government works, the financial costs of the food we throw away, and the value of a liberal arts education.

“It’s kind of a weird thing to think of,” he said, of his senior project in composting, “because I’m a biology/pre-med major.  Being that I came from ONU, I took classes in environmental biology.  That’s something that has made me well rounded, not just focusing on biomedical sciences or physiology as you would at a larger university.

"If I didn’t go to ONU, I wouldn’t have had this inspiration.  This project probably wouldn’t be around."