Christian Cambrelen

GFI Fellow - Class of 2017

Undergraduate Student, Management
UC Merced

PROJECT

Composting

DESCRIPTION

Through Assembly Bill AB341, 75 percent of all solid material in California is required to be recycled, reused, or composted by 2020. Christian’s project will examine the feasibility of composting, its processes and the benefits that it provides to agriculture. Studies have shown that through proper management the anaerobic process of composting breaks down organic waste that would otherwise release greenhouse gasses such as carbon and methane. Additionally when properly regulated, the output from the composting process can be utilized for land use; this has been shown to produce better crop yields when compared to chemical fertilizers and provides other benefits such as increased carbon sequestration for the land it's used on. Composting will allow us to create a positive output that serves to solve several issues surrounding the organic waste that we produce, overuse of land-causing mineral deficiencies and the ability to increase food output without chemical application.