Compost Program

Join us at the gardens every Friday at 9:00am for weekly Garden Workdays or contact the Islander Green Team at islander.green@tamucc.edu if you are interested in being trained for this program. It's a great opportunity for service hours and to learn about the beauty and science behind returning food scrap nutrients back to the soil. 

Click here for directions to the garden & compost location.

Faculty, staff, and students are very encouraged to bring their personal kitchen scraps to the compost operation!

How to Compost Guide

Individuals are asked to donate a weekly maximum of one 5 gallon bucket worth of organic materials:

Do Add:

• fruit/vegetable scraps
• egg shells
• coffee grounds
• tea bags

Do NOT Add:

• bones
• meat
• dairy items
• chemicals

Please utilize the 5 gallon buckets to the left of the shed, secure lid, and place on the right of the shed. You may also add scraps to one of the two large blue bins; be sure to clasp straps back together. Trained Islander Green Team members will create compost with donated materials.

Additionally, individuals are encouraged to donate the listed yard waste and carbon-based materials:

• shredded paper
• backyard leaf mulch
• wood chips
• grass cuttings
• dead plants

These materials can be delivered to the mulch pile near the tool shed or behind the shed where the supply of dried plants is situated. All these materials will be recorded and utilized as feedstock to the compost. 

All materials can be delivered at any time. Just be sure to close all buckets and bins containing food organics. This will ensure no raccoons will get to it before we do!

1. Saves resources: Composting keeps valuable resources out of the landfill and returns it back to our ecosystems. Food waste accounts for 40% of residential waste. By reusing this resource, we can turn neglected nutrients into a sustainable cycle for local food and plant growth. 
2. Improves soil: Compost is a mild, slow releasing, nutrient-rich natural fertilizer that yields better plant growth than chemical fertilizers. It also improves soil texture, air circulation for heavier soils, and increases water retention. 
3. Reduces Environmental impacts: Compost eliminates the use of chemical fertilizers that could potentially runoff into our local waters, creating imbalances of the local ecosystem. It also reduces Green House Gases (GHG's) by
   • Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from vehicles used to transport waste.
   • Organics that break down anaerobically (with out oxygen) in a landfill produce methane (CH4) gas. This emission is 21 times more potent than CO2. We reduce the impact of GHG when we divert TAMUCC's organic waste to compost.
4. Saves money: No need to buy artificial fertilizers, and reduction of waste by 40% saves landfill trip fees. Compost also retains soil moisture which means less water for irrigation. 

By composting, we complete the cycle of returning what was once grown in soil to make it's way back to the soil.

Since September 2016, the Islander Green Team has come together to collect coffee grounds from Starbucks on campus. With the help from the University Police Department and the Environmental, Health and Safety Department, IGT has collected and transported food scraps and organic waste using donated bikes, wagons, and 5-gallon buckets. Starting out with just two compost piles it has quickly grown to six large bins behind our community gardens on campus.

Today, the compost collection sites have expanded with IGT compost collectors picking up from the Starbucks & The Cove. Our efforts continue to expand, with student residents now dropping off their food waste as well. The number of volunteers that help to sift the bins to new stages is also increasing.

Food waste is collected in recycled buckets at the dining facilities where it is then picked up by IGT volunteers or EH & S student workers. Bikes and electric golf carts are used to transport the food to the composting site behind the TAMUCC Islander Gardens. 

Since this project began in 2016, we have collected over 100,000 pounds of campus food & yard waste!

We have partnered with The College of Science and Engineering on creating a Solar Powered Composter. This is a more efficient compost bin, which produces ideal environments for beneficial microbial communities to compost our raw materials. We are continuously seeking knowledgeable soil/gardening experts for our on-going projects.

If you are interested in getting involved as a instructor or advisor please email us at: islander.green@tamucc.edu.

In the near future, we wish to install a large in-vessel composting unit on our campus to sustain the amount of food waste produced potentially by the whole campus. We also propose that our dining services switch to all compostable containers & utensils. Thank you for your interest in a more sustainable Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi!