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is bringing back the South Campus Composting Program for the 2020-21 academic year, with a few changes from the past years.

Due to health concerns surrounding COVID-19, Sustainability Management is implementing a more hands-on experience for participants. Students will be provided a compost bin but will be required to bring their food scraps to a receptacle outside of 161 Farm Acre (where Sustainability Management is located). Participants will also be responsible for cleaning their bins each week. The food scraps schedule is Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Tuesdays from noon to 4 p.m.; and Fridays from 4 to 8 p.m.

Food scraps from the South Campus Composting Program will no longer be sent to the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA); instead they will be composted in Pete’s Giving Garden on South Campus and used in the garden next spring. A compost bay has been added to the garden, constructed out of pallets no longer in use at the University. Two more bays will be added to create a three-bay system, which is ideal for an at-home composting system.

“Creating a composting system within the garden makes sense logistically, but also gives our students the ability to gain hands-on experience when it comes to composting. Students come to campus and immediately start composting in the dining centers by adding their food scraps to the dining center bins,” says Sustainability Coordinator Meg Lowe. “When transitioning to South Campus, students now have the opportunity to continue to add their food scraps to a compost program that will be maintained on campus.”

Students who want to learn more about the process can volunteer to help with the new compost program.

Items accepted in the South Campus Composting Program are:

• fruit and vegetable scraps
• pumpkins
• stale bread, cooked pasta, rice, chips, oatmeal
• coffee grounds and filters
• popped popcorn, not in the bag
• eggshells
• cardboard egg cartons
• paper towels and napkins
• newspaper
• tea bags
• paper and broken down cardboard boxes

Please do not include any meat, dairy products, oils and compostable to-go containers, as this system will not reach the required temperature to break down these materials.

Students who are interested in composting and volunteering are encouraged to reach out to Meg Lowe at mclowe@syr.edu. She will assist in providing a compost bin and answer any questions related to composting.

For more information about Sustainability on campus, visit or follow @SustainableSU on , and .