By Gwynne Dulaney, Co-Editor-in-Chief
This fall, the Haverford DC welcomed a new helper into its kitchen. Always striving to leave the planet a cleaner, more sustainable place, Haverford College has taken yet another step to make campus a greener community. After years of composting leftover food that has led to unnecessary waste, Haverford has introduced their newest green product: an aerobic digester.
Nicknamed “Munchy Crunchy Who Grinds Up Your Lunchy,” by the student body, or “Munchy Crunchy” for short, the aerobic digester has already made a large impression on campus. Despite its oddly cutesy cartoonish name, this green machine is not to be taken lightly. According to a student-wide email by Franklyn Cantor, special assistant to the president, Munchy Crunchy is “an aerobic digester that digests food waste into grey water with the help of microorganisms.” This machine will transform DC leftovers into nutrient-rich water that will be processed by the city of Philadelphia into compost and biogas.
Despite the DC’s good intentions of composting in the past, it seems that over the years even this effort to produce less waste has led to a significant carbon footprint. According to the student-wide email, Haverford previously collected pre- and post-consumed waste to be used for composting and had a third-party vendor truck the waste to an off-site location. This transportation added significant and unnecessary carbon emission over the years. With Munchy Crunchy however, the nutrient-rich water runs in a wastewater treatment system, which goes directly to the process plant in Philadelphia, cutting carbon emission completely.
So how does an aerobic digester work? The food waste is deposited inside a large, sealed tank which is void of oxygen. The biomass is then heated to around blood temperature , where it will then react to the naturally occurring microorganisms and bacteria, turning the waste into grey water. This is then used as an energy source, making the process as well as the results more efficient and environment-friendly.
It appears that over the past few weeks, Munchy Crunchy has become quite the celebrity. Already plans are taking place on how to portray Munchy Crunchy in the DC mural being created for it, and overhead the conveyor belt leading to Munchy Crunchy is a large sign spelling out what can and cannot be put onto the conveyor belt along with a reminder that “Munchy Crunchy Grinds Up Your Lunchy.” Students refer to it regularly in conversation, and a fondness for the new member of the DC has spread throughout campus.
What are your thoughts on Munchy Crunchy? Let us know at news.bico@gmail.com!
Image credit: Haverford College
