Environmental education has always been a priority for zoo keepers and horticulturists. However, the importance of these entities has never been higher. A visit to the zoo and botanical gardens is a vivid illustration of how important it is to protect the planet's ecosystems and its life-giving bio diversity. Public education of life's interdependencies is exemplified by the life cycle of plants and animals - these lessons are very much relevant to what is occurring in the world today.
Across the country, there are approximately 459 major zoos and botanical gardens - all of which practice and teach sustainability. As a result of the scores of people these entities attract, their concessions generate large volumes of food and paper waste. In addition, a tremendous amount of green waste (especially in the autumn) is produced by the coming and going of the seasons on the sprawling acres they occupy. In the case of zoos, large concentrations of animals produce very large volumes of waste, much of which carries disease.
For both, and even more so for zoos, waste management is a major issue. In keeping with their belief of becoming more self-sufficient and reusing as much as possible, composting is a very common practice. However, most are composting only fragments of their waste stream and doing so in open windrows which require large areas of valuable land. Because this process is occurring in open nature, it is common for the decomposing material to give off strong odors and attract vectors. In the case of zoos, the odor is exponentially stronger and leaching of disease into the water stream is a concern. Therefore, zoos often will collect the animal waste well before the zoo opens and haul it off to the nearest landfill or incineration plant.
As both are key organizations in helping our youth become environmentally responsible, both zoos and botanical gardens would compost more of their waste stream if there was a way to eliminate odors, vectors, and control the risk of leaching. As mentioned above, windrow composting also requires large amounts of extremely valuable land, which could be used for other beneficial purposes. These operations are labor intensive and could take anywhere from several months to a year to produce a fully decomposed compost.
BioSystem Solutions has developed the industry's most advanced and efficient comprehensive turn-key solutions that not only solve these problems, but will produce far superior compost, in just days requiring a vastly smaller footprint. These patented, highly efficient, in-vessel systems deliver stable, consistent premium quality compost without the odors and vectors. Hauling and tipping fees can be dramatically reduced, if not eliminated and the abundant compost can either be sold as a fund raiser through the concession or safely land applied on the grounds, further reducing the need for harmful and costly chemical fertilizers and enhancers.
In keeping with our commitment to educating our youth, BioSystem Solutions has created a composting unit specifically designed for school cafeterias. As a functional, living model of the recycling process, the BioSafe™ takes learning outside of the textbook and beyond the classroom, delivering a unique educational experience that not only promotes an appreciation and understanding of science, but also teaches unforgettable lessons in personal and civic responsibility.
