monday, eprll 16, 1979
dally nebraskan
pags 3
Don't jMste waste, recycle it, says agronomy professor
By Liz Austin
we are giving more than we ire receiving
uiesrun ma.
, The laying "waite not, want not" hai Af W1HH(, . . , . nnt
been arond for i long time and has been ,Jn"tL0 Pytttoi much moneylnto
consistently Ignored, but it hai come to S .ffEfP1 4, wate disposal, emphasis
the point whfre people are being wasteful .he 2
with waste Itself, according to a UNL "i&nS1" M Re$yclin wa$te
specialist in waste management and recy. 1 "
Dr. Leon Chesnin, UNL professor of u wage wa5t,e wouf!? t0
agronomy, said this can be changed. Jfaska cropland as a fertilizer after going
Through hii research at the UNL Field La- thf.ou8h ' composting process, Chesnin
boratory at Mead and through work In nn... . Liuwi ,u
FaJIi City, he has developed a highly JftfJ!!:
efficient way of producing organic fcrtf- CK f SEE? h ,.
Iter from sewace sludge, and feedlot n&tmS!L2ES LnwX
manure and slauiterhouse waste. dust and leaves. Composting kills the dis-
Land fills are the usual means of waste gf "jg a,nw,cetdhf SJJmS
disposal. Waste deposited In a land fill must ?li 1 tr ntS ln 3
be covered daily with soil. Waste is about CT Stl hiM.
90 percent water so paper products must SBfSitt2 8S
be used In the fill to absorb this water. ?!SnicumatterJn the soli and increases the
Theoretically, this inert and stable land 8011 1 ab?i t( retai" water more than
can be used again when completely filled, commercial fertilizers, he explained.
Chesnin said. But the recent explosion at Absorbent
the Denver landfill has shown that an ex At the Mead Field Laboratory a mixture
plosive gas, methane, Is produced in the of filtered sewage from Fremont ahd crop
landfill. This makes the land useless unless residue were composted and used .as crop
ostly measurei are taken to get rid of the fertilizer. Twice during the last eight years
methane. the laboratory had over four inches of
Disposal to recycling overnight rainfall. Both times the plots
The federal government has an annual with the natural fertilizers absorbed au the
$4.2 billion budget for Improvement of water while the plots with commercial fer
waste disposal systems, Chesnin noted, tilizer absorbed almost none, Chesnin said.
Nebraska's share Is $22.8 million and the This elimination of the surface runoff of
state must match that with $7.6 million rain and snow would lower the Incidents of
from state and local taxes. flooding and the resulting costs and would
"You get the impression that perhaps reduce the investments cost of irrigation
equipment and operation, Chesnin pointed
out. v
In Falls City, untreated tewage iludge
was combined with sawdust and
composted, Chesnin said The diseased or
.ganisms In the waste were killed in .four
weeks of composting and the resulting cost
was about $3 for a finished ton. of com
post as compared with about $25 a ton to
bury waste in a land fill, he said.
The use of the organic compost also was
found to reduce the soil's density, Chesnin
said. With a lower density it takes less
tractor fuel to work the soil, he added.
Ideal situation
Nebraska is in ideal situation for com
posting of waste because there are very few
metal plating or smelting industries ln the
state which produce toxic wastes, Chesnin
said. Industries that do have to dispose of
toxic metals are required by state law to
pretreat wastes.
But those states where wastes are highly
toxic also can benefit from composting,
Chesnin said. Composting reduces waste to
about one-fourth of its original size and
therefore would reduce the amount of the
land fill required for disposal, he said.
Since the compost has no odor and
doesn't attract flies or insects, it would not
have to be covered with soil daily, Chesnin
said. Composting reduces the water
content of waste to 20 percent so paper
products would no longer be required to
absorb the water, he said.
Overall it would reduce the operation
cost of land, fills, Chesnin said.
Chesnin said as a result of his research,
Kearney, FaUi City, Beatrice and Gibbon
have adopted sewage composting programs
and Hastings will Initiate one soon. Lincoln
and Omaha are seriously considering adopt
ing such a program, he added. '
If these cities adopt the programs then
Nebraska would become the number one
state in 'composting and recycling of
sewage wastes, Chesnin said .
USPS 144-080
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The Greek Week Dinner
Exchange will be tonight at
5:30 pjn. in all Greek
houses.
The Cornstock marshals
will meet at 9 pjn. in the
East Union, Room number
will be posted.
The UPC Concert Com
mittee will meet at 4 pjn.
Tuesday in the Union.
Room number will be post
ed.
The UPC Special Events
Committee will sponsor a
dance workshop at 7 pjn. in
the East Union Great Plains
Room.
Space applications for
the Nebraska Unions are
available in both Unions
administrative offices. Dead
line for submission is 5 pjn.
April 20 in Nebraska Union
220.
ef3
1
9:30 ajn.-CAP Staff,
Room 216.
12:30 pjn.-NUPIRG,
Main Lounge.
3:30 pm. -Chess Club,
Harvest Room C.
3:30 pm .-Booster Yell
Squad, Conference rooms.
3:30 p jn.-UPC-City Hu
man Potentials, Room 216.
6 pjn .-Greek Week Ex
change Dinner Reception,
Centennial Room,
7 pjn.-Qrcle K; Room
243.
7 pjn.-Table Tennis
Club, Conference -Rooms.
7 pjn.-Delta Sigma R
Execs Room 232.
7 pm.-Rii Kappa hi,
Room 343.,
7:30 pjri.rEckankar
Room 216. -
7:30 pjn.-Math Coun
selors, Room 225.
7:30 pjn.-DelU Sigma
PI, Room 232.
8 pm.-UPC-City Show
case Tell Tale Poe Ball
room. '
9:30 pjn.-IES-NelisJi
Trip, Room 203.
TACCE H
UPC
PTM
East Happenings
An Ingo Preminger Production
DONALD SUTHERLAND ELUOtT GOULD TOM SKERRITT
tototJ OmcMt totmHirW rlMJ-n
ING0P8M&ER R00CRTM.TMAN RiKGlARStiQO uTr 1
tmtt!KHMOMMII Mwctf HMMTIUWa "'""'
Color by DC LUXEt) JANAVKION L.TJ
ORIGINAL tOUNDTRACK RECORDING ON COLUMBIA RECORDS
CjdlJd
uhil jo
East Campus
Great Plains Room
SflBfla?, April 88,
Admission $1.50 or $1.00
with MAS.H. costume
o
f ' ' 4
FREE
CONCERT
THIS FRIDAY
- -1 If
12:30 - 5:30
EAST CAMPUS MALL
featuring
GENEeerreN
The Zass Off Boys
Sour Mash .
AT THE 2nd ANNUAL
Learn Everything From Ballroom To
Modern Dancos
As Taught By Bob Deschalno
GIE AIT JPIAIIKS Qrj
MIL 17, 7-9
.o