Composting at Ursinus

Reimanging composting on campus.

In 2009, a group of Ursinus students were able to connect with a farmer just three miles down the road to compost the school’s food waste. By 2013, plasticware and plastic sauce packets increasingly contaminated our compost, leading to the termination of our contract. Now, we are working to reimagine composting on campus so we can resume this sustainable practice once again.

As of right now, we are considering two potential composting options: we could either

(1) contract with another composting company, or

(2) we could invest in establishing our own composting capabilities on campus so that we could utilize our own food waste on our organic farm, food forest, and landscaping.

Both of these options have their own benefits and drawbacks, and there are other combinations of composting possibilities that we may also want to consider.

Wismer-On-Wheels, the student-run food waste reduction organization on campus, is overseeing a pilot composting program in Upper Wismer utilizing the food waste from the salad bar. This pilot program will take place during the Fall 2022 semester.

If you are interested in getting involved with any aspect of this project, please contact us.