Compost Program

Cal Dining is proud to work with NORCAL to give back to the community with our composting program. Our To-Go containers are made from bagasse (the crushed, leftover canes from sugarcane plants). We strongly encourage you to take your empty To-Go containers and pizza boxes to one of our composting centers. Composting the to-go containers is "closing the loop," and actually making waste into food, which is the essence of designing a sustainable system.

How Can I Help?
Simply take your empty To-Go containers and/or your pizza boxes and bring them to one of our four composting centers:

• Unit 1 Central Building Lobby (Outside of Academic Services Center)
• Lobbies and kitchenettes of all Unit 1 buildings (CN, CH, DE, FR, PU, SL)
• Foothill Loading Dock (on Hearst St.)
• Left of the office at Foothill Building 4 (Administrative Office)

From there, the recycleable waste is delivered to NORCAL's composting facility, where the waste material is converted to usable compost.

Why Compost?
Composting is much more than just a method of garbage disposal. All across America, landfills are literally filling up. Approximately 20-30% of wastes in landfill can be recycled through composting. By contributing your To-Go containers and pizza boxes to our compost stations, you can help the community to conserve what is left of our current landfill space.

In addition, the final compost provides a much greener and healthier solution for gardeners and farmers. When used correctly, compost has the ability to take the place of chemical fertilizers, prevent groundwater contamination, and much more!

The importance of composting and feeding back to the system that feeds us is a big deal.  Loss of top soil to erosion and pesticide contamination is a huge problem worldwide.  Using Cal's waste to replenish something as fundamental as top soil and to improve soil health has implication for not only our ability to feed ourselves but to feed the world.

Click here to learn more about the benifits of composting from the Environmental Protection Agency's website.