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Compost Squad
The WRRAP Compost Squad is dedicated to improving food waste reduction efforts on campus
WRRAP’s compost team focuses primarily on outreach and education, helping students learn more about the process of composting from tabletop to soil! Historically, we collected food scraps from participating residents and diverted paper towel waste from bathrooms on campus, and turned it into a rich soil supplement using the Earth Tub. Starting in Spring 2024, the scope of composting on-campus has expanded, and Facilities Management has taken on the collections responsibilities with the help of a commercial composter! This gives WRRAP’s student team the ability to dedicate more energy to tasks such as decreasing contamination of the food waste stream, helping students sign up for compost bins, and distributing compost to campus partners.
Do you live on campus? Join the Campus Resident Compost Program!
Sign up here to join the Campus Resident Compost Program! You will receive a FREE countertop compost bin and instructions on how to participate. It's simple - use the countertop compost bin to collect any food scraps throughout the week. Then empty the collected compost into your resident areas' designated compost bin any day or time. This program is only for residents of Creekview, Cypress, Campus Apartments and College Creek. For residents of Redwood, Sunset or the Canyon, please put any food scraps in the compost buckets in the common kitchen of your building. Questions? Email wrrap@humboldt.edu.
Meet The Squad
Hello!!! My name is Ethan and I am one of the 2 Compost Co-directors at WRRAP! Currently I am an ENST major with a minor in Ecological Restoration. Outside of school and work I love doing several things including going on hikes, gardening whether it's my own plants or at community gardens, and Photography. For me being a part of the compost branch is a perfect fit, I love being involved in a program directly connected with students, especially when it also means I get to work quite literally with dirt in my hands. Having to work with such an awesome team for WRRAP this year has definitely added to the great experience.
Interested in joining our team as a volunteer, for-credit intern, or co-director? Inquire about job opportunities by emailing wrrap@humboldt.edu, and check out the Cal Poly Humboldt Handshake website for up-to-date job postings.
Upcoming Compost Events and Opportunities
RAs - interested in having WRRAP’s Compost Squad co-lead an educational active event for your floor? Reach out and let’s scheme! Please email wrrap@humboldt.edu with your idea, timeframe, and what materials you need, and we’ll get back to you!
Interested in getting a tour of the compost efforts and facilities on campus? Reach out to us on behalf of yourself, a club, or a class and we can coordinate.
Check back and check out our instagram (@wrrap) for more up-to-date ways to get involved, including participating in Donation Dash and Earth Week Every Week!
A History of Campus Composting
This section of the website is a work-in-progress! Check back later in the semester to learn about how composting has evolved alongside the campus to meet student needs and sustainability goals.
Compost Facts
- Most efficient composting occurs with a carbon to nitrogen ratio of 30 to 1
- When food rots in a landfill, it produces methane, a gas with 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.
- More than 20% of all methane emissions: human-related
- Cal Poly Humboldt's Earth Tub is designed specifically for on-site composting of food-waste.
- The Earth Tub is a fully enclosed composting vessel featuring power mixing, compost aeration, and biofiltration of all process air.
- The ET is capable of processing as little as 40 lbs per day or as much as 100 lbs per day
- Vermicomposting: composting with worms in an enclosed, convenient, low maintenence worm bin.
- Approximately 3,000 pounds of food waste was diverted from landfills and incinerators in the year of 2019 and 2022!
What can you compost on campus? Download the Guide:
- If you would like a compost bucket for your dorm room contact the Residential Sustainability Advisor at rsa@humboldt.edu
- Need a place to dispose of your compost? You can use the compost bins around campus or follow the signs at the Cultural Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT).
