How to Compost

Depending on where you are on campus, or if you are off campus, there are different ways to approach composting.

On campus, we try to make things as simple as possible by taking care of the outdoor composter for you, and providing indoor collection buckets, but it is up to individuals or groups within the building to take the compostables out to main composter on a weekly basis. This is the basis for the composting system for both residence and staff and faculty.

The website has guides on how to set up and monitor composting at home off-campus, as well as lists of what goes where for both locations.

The City of Guelph runs a municipal composting program, known as "wet" or the green bag, and was a forerunner in composting on a large scale in Ontario. Many other cities now also provide centralized composting, quite often as a "green bin" program.

The advantage of home composting is the reduced transportation and processing, and the immediate access to the finished compost for local gardens. Municipal composting has the advantage of being easily accessed by everyone, whether or not they have the space for a composter. It can also take more types of organic material, being closely monitored and reaching higher temperatures.