Back C. Hernadez, J. Yeomans, S. Okumoto, M. Shintani and P. Tabora
EARTH University P.O.Box 4442-1000, San Jose, Costa Rica
Full Paper (PDF File: 24KB)
Abstract
The traditional models of rural development and growth have created serious problems of soil, air, and water pollution. As a result, agriculture and agro-industry, and their accompanying human activities, are major contributors to the global environmental health crisis which we are now experiencing.
At EARTH University, we are working to foster a new paradigm, based upon the philosophy of sustainable development. We promote the concept that agricultural systems are complex and they cannot be treated as isolated entities; they cannot be considered industries separate from the environment and people which form such as integral part of their systems.
EARTH University's facilities have an agro-industrial, commercial, residential and academic infrastructure. These facilities generate, on average, 0.65 kg per person per day, of solid domestic wastes. More than 60% of these wastes are characterized as biodegradable. EARTH faces an important challenge; to develop and operate an integrated waste management system capable of providing a soil domestic waste collection and treatment service that is efficient, economically feasible, in agreement with the institution's mission, principles and values, and appropriate for neighbouring communities. The use of EM (effective microorganisms) as a tool in the integrated waste management program has helped EARTH to meet this challenge.