Columbia University
OP-T2-8: PostConsumer Food Waste Composting

Members of the student-run Food Sustainability Project sometimes run a composting initiative where they compost post-consumer food waste. The group then uses the soil produced from their compost to fertilize their community garden. Columbia Dining also recycles all used trans fat-free cooking oil. They have partnered with The Doe Fund, through their Ready, Willing, and Able resource recovery program. Columbia Dining recycles about 4,000 gallons annually and all oil collected is recycled into biodiesel. Additional URLs with information about Columbia composting: http://gosustainable.blogspot.com/ http://dining.columbia.edu/local-and-sustainable#waste http://www.doe.org/programs/?programID=1 http://environment.columbia.edu/newsandprofiles/compostingbegins http://www.environment.columbia.edu/newsandprofiles/compostingcomingtomorningsidecampus http://www.grownyc.org/compost/locations An in-vessel composter has also been installed in Ruggles Hall. Operated by the undergraduate EcoReps, students can drop-off compost at designated times. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory campus hosts a “backyard compost project”. The project got under way with more than $400 in donations from scientists and staffers. The three-bin system, built of wood, chicken wire and fiberglass, receives from 60 to 100 gallon containers of food scraps each week from cafeteria food preparation and lunch scraps from two campus buildings. Lastly, Columbia hosts a NYC Greenmarket farmer’s market that has compost collection. Every Sunday, from 8am-1pm, Columbia community members can drop-off fruit and vegetable scraps, non-greasy food scraps (rice, pasta, bread, cereal etc.), coffee grounds & filters, tea bags, egg and nut shells, pits, cut or dried flowers, houseplants and potting soil that will be transported to one of several NYC compost sites. The food scraps are transformed into a fertile compost for use on local urban farming and gardening projects.