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Composting (Organics Recycling)

In 2016, Augsburg began a campus-wide composting program, thanks in part to a $50,000 grant from Hennepin County and matching funds from the student Environmental Action Committee. Since then, Augsburg’s dining service has transitioned to certified compostable containers and silverware for food service and catering, our Purchasing department has helped make compostable materials more available to campus departments, students committed to a system for composting and recycling in every single dorm room starting Fall 2017, and everyone around campus has been learning together how to actually use those green bins.

Environmental Action Plan Goal 3: Cultivate personal ownership and a community culture of environmental stewardship.

  • Initiative: Institutionalize compost practices across campus through daily actions of every member of the Augsburg community to reduce landfill dependency and greenhouse gas emissions.

Where To Compost

You can find a green compost bin next to all the recycling and trash bins in central locations inside and outside of each building, including the dorms.

 

What to compost

Learn more from the City of Minneapolis!

Food Waste

  • Produce
  • Meat
  • Poultry
  • Seafood
  • Shellfish
  • Bones
  • Rice
  • Pasta
  • Bakery items
  • Cheese
  • Coffee grounds
  • Eggshells
  • Any other food you don’t eat!!

Food-soiled Paper Products

  • Paper plates, trays and cups
  • Paper towels, placemats and napkins
  • Parchment paper
  • Egg cartons and trays
  • Pizza boxes and other paper food containers
  • Waxed cardboard boxes

Certified Compostable Products

  • Cups, plates, bowls, utensils, containers and more (including items from Einsteins and Nabo)
  • Anything with the BPI or Cedar Grove logos or the term “compostable” somewhere on the item

Other Common Items

  • Coffee grounds and filters
  • Hair and nail clippings
  • Cotton balls and swabs with paper stems
  • Houseplants and flowers
  • Tea bags
  • Wooden items such as chopsticks, popsicle sticks, and toothpicks

Student Projects

Student Composting Experiences – research through 1:1 conversations (Briana Mitchel, ’19)

Tutorial – How-to Guide (Hannah Arvold, ’17)

get help

Contact our Environmental Stewardship Intern Team to see how we can begin a compost collaboration!