Composting

Our dining facilities dispose of food scraps, paper products, cardboard and compostable dinnerware into containers serviced by a commercial hauler and taken to a regional composting site.

Our on-campus compost pile is made up of food scraps collected from participating student housing locations, plus grass clipping and other yard waste. The Grounds Department maintains a compost pile on campus to develop a nutrient-rich mulch to add to the soil in planting beds.  Hope College is known for its beautiful landscaping, and your banana peels and wilted lettuce can help us keep it that way.

Composting tips

What to Compost

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Plants
• Paper products that will soak up water (cheap unwaxed paperware); paper coffee cup sleeves, etc.
• Coffee grounds, tea bags
• Eggshells

What NOT to Compost

• Meat
• Bones
• Glass
• Metals
• Pet or human waste
• Compostable dinnerware*
• Clothing
• Plastics

*Materials labeled "compostable" need a high heat process. We can only take naturally decomposable products. If you use these products from the Kletz, Phelps or Cook Dining, please dispose of them in the containers provided at these locations.

Compost Bucket request and schedule

You may request a compost bucket for your cottage or apartment by placing a work order.

Place you compost bucket outdoors by your back or side door on Mondays (same day as regular trash pick-up). The grounds department crew will take your compost product and will return a clean bucket.