CAMPUS COMPOSTING
2016 – Present
Campus Composting works to reduce organic waste produced by the University community through public education about waste sorting and the implementation of composting infrastructure on and off-campus.
Want to compost in your Hyde Park apartment?
REGISTER HERE
Get free composting materials and access to community bins around Hyde Park!
Off-Campus Composting
Program
PSI received funding from the College and Student Life’s Green Fund to provide free composting services for off-campus University students in Hyde Park.
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Check our feature in the Chicago Maroon to learn more.
100+ Households
Currently Enrolled
150,000+ lbs
of waste composted since 2016
3 community drop off locations
(More coming soon!)
Our Partner:
A South Side, urban farm specializing in compost hauling, indoor/outdoor farming, and farmer's markets.
Event Composting
Campus Composting continues to work with a variety of RSOs, including the Undergraduate Student Government, the Summer Breeze concert, the South Asian Student Association, the Taiwanese American Student Association, and neXus to bring composting to major campus events. We also work with University partners such as College Programming and Orientation and UChicago Dining to compost at events such as BerryPalooza, Grill Competition, and Parents’ Farewell. Each quarter, at our events, thousands of guests interact with zero-waste sorting, reduce their carbon footprint, and learn about composting.
Campus Composting members and other PSI volunteers composting at the SASA Culture Show.
Student-Run Cafe Composting
In a significant step towards implementing institutionalized composting at the University of Chicago, Campus Composting supports composting for all student-run coffee shops. This pre-consumer composting program, funded by a Green Fund Grant, started in 2023. Since then, cafes have have composted over 50,000 pounds of coffee grounds and other food waste.
On-Campus Composting
As of the 2025-26 academic year, Campus Composting has worked with Residential House Sustainability Representatives to implement composting in houses in all seven dorm buildings.
In 2024-25 Campus Composting worked with UChicago's Phoenix Farms to launch a shared Community Composting Bin. In Autumn Quarter 2025, this was increased to three bins located at Logan, the SMART Museum, and the corner of 55th Street and Kenwood with the help of the Green Fund. We plan to continue adding additional composting bins throughout the upcoming academic year!​
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In 2023-2024, we partnered with UChicago Dining to bring interactive activities centered around composting to two of their events: Stop Food Waste Day and Berry Palooza. Over 3,810 lbs of waste was composted at Cathey Dining Commons per week. We also presented on our initiatives to members of the Harris Energy and Environment Association, who appreciated our strategies for requesting funding and working with University staff. We hope to continue this partnership and work together towards institutionalized composting at UChicago.​​​
One of Campus Composting's Project Group Leaders, Harmonie Ramsden, leading a composting initiative (2025).
Learn more about composting!
“An enormous portion of the waste that you create individually is food waste…both on and off-campus composting programs could divert so much of UChicago’s total waste output.”
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- Former Project Group Leader Andre Dang (in The Chicago Maroon)
