Composting
Composting refers to the practice of breaking down food and paper waste to create a nutrient-rich soil additive that can improve the productivity of soils while also diverting waste from landfills where it will produce potent greenhouse gas emissions. University of Idaho is committed to reducing our food waste and disposing of our waste responsibly.
Goals
Together with our partners in Recycling, Surplus and Solid Waste, Dining and Campus Services and IdahoEats, the Office of Sustainability has developed a composting program that aims to:
- Divert 100% of campus food waste from the landfill
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from hauling and disposing of food waste
- Produce compost for community distribution
- Increase awareness and engagement with food waste and waste reduction
Accepted Materials
Our biodigester is capable of accepting fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, baked goods, coffee grounds, egg shells, paper goods and bioplastics. Food items that are not compostable include fats and oils, large bones and large volumes of liquids. Non-organic materials, such as plastic, stickers or metal, cannot be processed in the machine.
Learn More
Learn more about composting on campus and help us spread the word by sharing these guides within your department or living group. Presentations are available upon request.
The Moscow campus has already been working to tackle the issue of food waste on campus through a variety of programs.
The U of I Food Security Coalition works to eliminate food insecurity on campus through programs, education and the Food Secure Campus Plan.
Student Affairs operates the Vandal Food Pantry, a donation-based pantry on campus.
Our campus dining vendor, IdahoEats, operates the Swipe Out Hunger program to alleviate food insecurity and has begun making efforts to prevent food waste through the "Waste Not" program, started in March of 2023, which aims to reduce food waste and gather food waste data.
This program aims to address the following recommendations from the presidential white paper for sustainability:
Recommendation 3.4: Deliver sustainable infrastructure projects that maximize tradeoffs of costs, resource utilization and efficiency
Recommendation 3.6: Research and implement technology and systems to reduce and reuse food waste
Recommendation 5.5: Establish a data repository of university sustainability metrics to monitor progress towards institutional goals