Goal: Reduce food waste sent to the local landfill by diverting it to organic decay. This creates a nutrient-rich fertilizer that is utilized on campus gardens and landscapes.
NOTICE: Drop-off compost to the garden is currently open. Please place your scraps into the blue bins or a bucket with a sealed lid. Thank you.
What you can do:
1. Volunteer to be a part of the compost crew
Join us at the gardens every Friday at 9:00am for weekly Garden Workdays or contact the Islander Green Team at islander.green@tamucc.edu if you are interested on being trained for this program. It's a great opportunity for service hours and to learn about the beauty and science behind returning food scrap nutrients back to the soil.
Click here for directions to the garden & compost location.
2. Searching for a place to compost your food scraps? Would you like to begin composting but unsure on how to start?
Faculty, staff, and students are very encouraged to bring their personal kitchen scraps to the compost operation!
Individuals are asked to donate a weekly maximum of one 5 gallon bucket worth of organic materials:
Do Add:
- fruit/vegetable scraps
- egg shells
- coffee grounds
- tea bags
Do NOT Add:
- bones
- meat
- dairy items
- chemicals
Please utilize the 5 gallon buckets to the left of the shed, secure lid, and place on the right of the shed. You may also add scraps to one of the two large blue bins; be sure to clasp straps back together. Islander Green Team members will handle all donated compostable materials.
Additionally, individuals are encouraged to donate the listed yard waste and carbon-based materials:
- shredded paper
- backyard leaf mulch
- wood chips
- grass cuttings
- dead plants
These materials can be delivered to the mulch pile near the tool shed or behind the shed where the supply of dried plants is situated. All these materials will be recorded and utilized as feedstock to the compost.
All materials can be delivered at any time. Just be sure to close all buckets and bins containing food organics. This will ensure no raccoons will get to it before we do!
NOTE: Please refrain from donating compostable materials during scheduled University holidays:
- Thanksgiving Break: November 26th-27th, 2020
- Winter Break: December 23rd-January 1st, 2021
- Spring Break: March 8th-12th, 2021
How to Compost Guide
Why We Compost
- Saves resources: Composting keeps valuable resources out of the landfill and cycles it back into our landscape. Food waste accounts for 40% of residential waste. With this volume, we can turn wasted nutrients into a sustainable cycle for local uses.
- Improves soil: Compost is a mild, slow releasing, nutrient-rich natural fertilizer that yields better plant growth than chemical fertilizers. It also improves soil texture, air circulation for heavier soils, and increases water retention.
- Reduces Environmental impacts: Compost eliminates the use of chemical fertilizers that could potentially runoff into our local waters, creating imbalances of the local ecosystem. It also reduces Green House Gases (GHG's) in two ways
- Reducing CO2 emissions from vehicles used to transport waste.
- Organics that break down anaerobically (with out oxygen) in a landfill produce methane gas. This emission is 21 times more potent that CO2. We reduce this number when we divert TAMUCC's organic waste.
- Saves money: No need to buy artificial fertilizers, and reduction of waste by 40% saves landfill trip fees. Compost also retains soil moisture which means less water for irrigation.
By composting, we complete the cycle of returning what was once grown in soil to make it's way back to the soil.
