Cooperative Compost in Canton

Composting is a topic that has been getting a lot of attention from the SLU student body for the past few years. As of August 2008 St. Lawrence will be operating an organized compost facility once again but this time with a new twist.

The University and the Village of Canton have combined efforts to turn leaves, branches and other organic matter from village and university landscaping into a valuable soil amendment. The site selected for the operation is a field across from the Appleton Riding Arena on Route 68.

Using material recycled from recent construction in the village an access road will be built to the site allowing village and university vehicles to bring loads in large trucks. Material will begin coming to the site this fall beginning with the village's semi-annual curb pick up. As organic material from landscaping accumulates it will be mixed with manure from the stables to help the decomposition process by creating an optimal carbon-nitrogen ratio. As the piles form they will be windrowed and over time they will be turned to aerate the piles, again, aiding the decomposition process. When decomposition has progressed and the organic matter is sufficiently broken down the compost will be used as a soil amendment by both the village and the University.

We know our composting efforts have room to grow (and not just in volume). Various groups within the university and village have proposed eventually composting food wastes, capturing methane and allowing local residents to use the compost that their landscaping wastes helped create.

At this time there are three small locations on campus for students wishing to compost their food scraps. These bins are located at one of the townhouse recycling rooms, next to the Women's Resource Center at 3 University Avenue and behind the Greenhouse at 70 Park Street. Groups wishing to acquire a bucket to store compost in before taking it to one of the smaller bins should contact the Sustainability Coordinator (lgava@stlawu.edu).