Developing Common Leys: Sustainability in Action - Case Study Example

Developing Sustainability in Common Leys Campus Introduction Resources are scarce and as such, there is need for sustainability and sustainable development of the existing resources. World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) state that Sustainable Development is that which meets the requirements of the current without compromising the capability of upcoming generation to meet their personal requirements. This idea promotes social, environmental as well as economic progress. Resources are limited and unmanaged growth is bound to degrade the environment. With the expansion of the Campus so as to accommodate the increase in student population, there is need for development of a sustainable development. The pressure this puts on land is likely to bring about environmental degradation. Issues of water shortage, waste disposal and pollution are likely to be on the rise prompting the need for sustainable change. For this reason, the campus needs to adopt animal husbandry as well as the practice of horticulture. These practices would go a long way in ensuring resource use and re use ensuring that the environment is safe guarded. For example, the food produced from the farm could offset the cost of purchasing food at the same time serve as a source of income. Natural resources like water, energy and soil need to be reserved for the sustained development in any ecosystem. For this reason, measures need to be put in place to ensure that these are re used where necessary in order to achieve conservation. Soil conservation practices which aim at reducing erosion by wind and water need to be in place. Erosion reduces soil organic matter and as such affects crop production as well as deteriorates the environment. Conservation practices include reduction of wind speed, reducing water speed and increase of soil organic matter content. These ensure organic matter replenishment and improve soil properties like water retention ability, infiltration and particle aggregate. Farming practices like extensive tillage reduce crop residue and reduce conservation. Water is a renewable resource and sustaining it should not be that difficult. However, even with the abundance in water, there are challenges regarding delivery of clean and safe water as well as the re use and treatment of waste water. These processes are very useful in conservation of the environment but are rather costly (Heinberg & Lerch, 2010, p.72). Population growth and pressure means that this resource is changing. Pollution from industrial wastes as well as human wastes threatens the availability of safe water. Waste materials in terms of animal fecal matter and carcasses if left to accumulate would soon overwhelm the ecosystem resulting in severe environmental degradation. This is because the phosphorus and heavy metals build up if left unchecked would have detrimental effects on the ecosystem (Greenberg, Mckone-sweet, & Wilson, 2011, p.67). Standard components of waste management system include waste collection, storage, treatment, transportation and utilization. Storage ponds and reservoirs are used to retain waste until they can be utilized for example applied to crops. Wastes need to be treated so as to degrade them further to useful components that are least harmful to the environment. Anaerobic treatment of these wastes ensures that they are degraded to substantial solids, methane gas and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide rejoins the carbon cycle while the methane can be harnessed as a fuel used for commercial and domestic purposes. Resources and Waste Common Leys Campus is supplied with electricity from the national power and lighting company. The water and sewage services are provided by Thames Water Company. Other resources include the food consumed in the cafeteria as well as animal feed, drugs, vaccines, paper and stationery. In turn, there is production of fruits and vegetables, animal products like eggs, meat, milk and hide (Serpell & Parsons, 2001, p. 53). There is also production of animal waste, human waste, waste paper, plastics, waste water and carbon dioxide. These are the short term wastes (Amador, Miles & Peters, 2006, p.98). The long term wastes include methane gas, nitrogen, phosphorus and other micronutrients from the farm effluence. Thames Water offers water and sewage services. This company carries out water treatment processes to recycle the water based waste collected from its clients (Louw & Venter, 2010, p. 54). The company does water treatment at four levels; primary, secondary and tertiary. At the tertiary level, about 99% of the impurities are removed producing water of drinking quality. Disinfection is done using chlorine. This water is then re circulated for use to its clients, Common Leys included. Farm Practices The Campus practices should adhere to legislation governing animal husbandry and management (Chase, 2005, p.82). The structures for housing the animals; the piggeries, hatches and dairy sheds are sufficiently separated from the campus dormitories by about 500 meters. These are also located a safe distance from water course and the sewer and septic tanks (Katrak & Strange, 2004, p.112). This is to ensure that there is zero chance of contamination of the animal feeds by human waste as well as minimizing the contamination of clean water by animal waste. Animal structures are constructed to meet the basic needs of the animals (Barlett, & Chase, 2004, p. 212). There is sufficient ventilation, drainage and manure removal system. This serves to ensure efficient elimination of industrial wastes and other pollutants so as to prevent contamination and infection. Surfaces in the structures are relatively even, smooth and non-slippery. This ensures the safety of the animals from accidents. The structures for holding the animals are accessible through access roads. The structures are constructed in a manner that ensures easy cleaning. There are several water reservoirs that ensure adequate water storage and supply (Pond, Bazer & Rollin, 2012, p. 32). The campus drainage system is such that there are septic tanks for storing waste matter and these are emptied and serviced by Thames Water. The horticulture farm located a short distance from the animal holding structures. This is accessible from the foot path and there is a perimeter fence surrounding it. According to Janick (2011); this is a high risk, high cost farming practice and requires intensive management. These crops are perishable and have narrow market window (Wankel & Stoner, 2008, p.76). For this reasons, there is need for careful crop variety selection, crop rotation practices, use of soil fertilizers, careful tillage, and pest management, and irrigation, wind break management, harvesting, handling and packaging measures (p.14). There is need for establishment of a cooling and storage system to ensure maximum profits are gotten from this practice. Cultivation of cover crops as well as crop rotation practices ensures that the soil is conserved. These crops help mitigate soil erosion through wind and water and in doing so help retain water contents and nutrient density. Planting leguminous crops and the rotation done seasonally has helped ensure the soil nutrients remain replenished (Espinos & Walker, 2011, p. 63). Cropping practices like reduced tillage, incorporating crop residues like leaves, roots and stems into the farm soil ensures that the soil organic matter is boosted and soil erosion is minimized. Waste Disposal Animal waste is disposed in a compost heap. This is later used as manure for the horticultural field on site (Ryan, 2010, p.94). This does not adhere to the waste management regulations. The campus site manager needs to construct effluent holding ponds of adequate capacities and at a safe distant from the water reservoirs. These animal wastes need to be covered so as not to contaminate nearby fields and feeds (SUSTAINABILITY IN PRISONS PROJECT (WASH.), EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE, WASHINGTON (STATE), & WASHINGTON STATE LIBRARY, 2011, p. 65 ). The different animal holding areas are separated from one another with a perimeter fence surrounding each of these to contain the animals as well as prevent contact with wild animals. The dirty water from the farm should be treated and reused for other purposes like irrigating the horticultural field, cleaning the animal holding area, watering the dusty paths or for watering down fires in case of an emergency (Chiu, 2013, p. 78). There exists a record book detailing the number and types of animals kept, the veterinary appointments, details on breeding as well as other animal related details. This is kept in order to keep track of all activities involving animal husbandry. The animals are marked using tags for easy identification. Health and Safety Measures Measures are in place to ensure the highest level of hygiene and safety are maintained. There is a disinfection pool where all the personnel who handle the animals step into. There is a changing room where all who handle the animals change to sterile gear (Duyer & Normore, 2012, p.74). This is for the sole purpose of ensuring zero or minimal chance of contamination. There is always a veterinary doctor available to ensure animal health and welfare (Calder, Clugston, & Corcoran, 2002, p. 52). Disease notification are dealt with promptly and accorded the seriousness they deserve. The animals are vaccinated and checked to ensure that they are free from pests and diseases. Breeding is done using artificial insemination and only the best breeds are selected to ensure the best quality of animals and this in turn ensures increased production from the farm. The farm manager ensures that the feed supply chain that is transport, storage and actual feeding is kept from contamination so as to minimize losses due to deterioration of farm supplies. There is clear cut separation between the animal feed and waste. This is to minimize and/or eliminate the risk of contamination and the associated side effects it brings. Overall, the campus farm upholds the law governing animal husbandry (Coles & South worth, 2005, p.84). However, the soil in the horticulture farm appears to be degrading from the disposal of animal effluent wastes containing copious amounts of phosphorus (Leal Filho, 1999, p.104). The campus management strives to promote recycling drives whereby the best recycler is awarded. Emphasis should be on the education of students and staff on how to re-use, reduce and recycle as much as possible. Chemical pollution could be mitigated by putting measures in place to reduce or minimize the use of chemical pesticides in the horticultural farm (Thanuskodi, 2013, p.74). This would go a long way to ensure that the land remains productive and aquamarine life is sustained. Ensuring environmental sustainability. The presence of crop cover in the farm will ensure that soil conservation is effective (Appalachian regional commission, & regional technology strategies, 2011, p.90). This means that the soil fertility is maintained which in turn enable increased crop yield and increased returns. This is economically viable with the right practices. Impact of Farming Practices Sustainability issues are categorized into three; social, environmental and economic issues. Socially, the increased consumption of animal products in the campus menu is likely expose the students and staff to lifestyle diseases like those of the heart as well as animal borne diseases like swine flu (University leaders for a sustainable future, & MCB UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2010, p.54). The positive impact of consuming animal products would improve health as a result of the availability of a sustainable food source. Environmentally, the livestock sector contributes majorly to environmental pollution. Feed production from pasture land degrades the soil especially when land is limited as is the case with intensive husbandry (Kunkel, 2000, p.103). On the other hand, the production process involved in feed production requires extensive use of resources such as water, fertilizers, pesticides and fossil fuels. These may be available from the environment but are scarce and easily depleted leading to shortage and unsustainability in the environment (Jacobs & Kinzie, 2012, p.92). Animal wastes when left unchecked pollutes soil and water resources. For example, the phosphorus emitted from animal waste is about nine times that from human waste and this has a detrimental effect on soil and soil fertility. The gaseous emissions from animal waste which include methane, carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases have been shown to have adverse environmental effects (Kevany, Huisingh, & Garcia, 2007, p.83). These pollute the environment and in extreme cases cause climatic changes and global warming. There is need to conserve energy in the campus. This would best done by replacing older electricity bulbs with more energy efficient lighting. Installation of motion detector switches which shut off when no one is present in the room. The campus can additionally replace electric power with either solar or wind power. Economically, the waste from water used in the farm could be treated and re used in irrigating the horticultural farm. This would ensure conservation of the environment and sustainability. Treated water can also be used to clean the animal sheds as well as the animal themselves and in doing so save up on water. The availability of quality and affordable animal protein promotes the nutritional wellbeing of the campus population as this means the members can access and afford this (Paus, 2013, p.92). The need for more staff to carry out specific duties regarding animal rearing and farming means that there will be more job opportunities (Schmandt, 2010, p.312). Needy students could find employment to help pay for their school fees and accommodation. Organic manure from the animals could be used in the horticultural field and as thus save on buying commercial fertilizers. Recommendations The methane gas produced from animal and human waste could be harnessed and used as a reliable source of energy for powering the farm structures. The animal waste collected should be stored in compost pits and the methane gas produced collected and stored (Thiele, 2013, p. 213). This can be stored in tanks and used in the Campus kitchen for cooking as well as fuel for Campus vehicles. This would ensure the availability of a sustainable resource and cut down on the costs associated with running the farm. The farm could purchase a water treatment plant to recycle and reuse the waste water produced. This would go a long way to reducing the cost spent on water and sewage bills. Conclusion Sustainable development ensures that while a system is achieving its goals, there is continued growth in terms of production and revenue. These are achieved in the context of scarce (Lopez & Toman, 2006, p. 45). For sustainability to be achieved, wastes need to be put to good use where possible so as to save on the cost of such utilities like water, energy and farm inputs like fertilizers and irrigation water (Madhavan, Oakley, & Kun, 2008, p.67). This can be done by incorporating other farming practices like animal husbandry and agriculture. The produce from these can be used as resources to other sectors like food industry and fuel industry. Intensive animal husbandry involves the confinement of a large number of animals within a relatively small area (Serpell & Parsons 2001, p. 67). This needs careful planning in order to achieve optimal products which in turn mean increased profits. There is need for animal and crop practices to adhere to the legislations that guide these practices. These laws are there to ensure safety of the animals as well as that of human brings in terms of infection control. References AMADOR, J. A., MILES, L., & PETERS, C. B. (2006). The practice of problem-based learning: a guide to implementing PBL in the college classroom. Bolton, Mass, Anker Pub. Co APPALACHIAN REGIONAL COMMISSION, & REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIES. (2011). 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Challenges of academic library management in developing countries. Hershey PA, Information Science Reference. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=591418. Read More