June 24, 2025

Soil, Sustainability, and a Stronger Future: The National Western Center Partners With Compost Colorado

The National Western Center (NWC) is deepening its commitment to sustainability through a new partnership with Compost Colorado (Compost CO)—a local innovator turning food waste into nutrient-rich compost that helps restore soils and fight climate change.

This collaboration supports a shared mission: reducing waste, building resilient communities, and investing in local environmental health—especially in the GES (Globeville, Elyria, Swansea) neighborhoods that surround the NWC campus.

Composting as a Climate Solution

The environmental benefits of composting go far beyond managing food scraps. Composting is a key strategy for climate action and soil regeneration:

Composting helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions by diverting food waste away from landfills. It also promotes plant growth by helping soil take in carbon dioxide and convert it into new biomass like leaves and roots. Source: US Composting Council

By collecting compost from the National Westen Center Campus, Compost Colorado is helping to close the loop—returning organic waste to the earth in the form of healthy, living soil.

A Local Collaboration with Broader Impact

“We try to make composting as accessible and easy as possible… and we were really excited when the National Western Center reached out to us,” says Van Fussell, Founder and Innovation Director of Compost Colorado.

This partnership enables Compost CO to:

  • Collect and process food waste from NWC and nearby institutions
  • Create nutrient-rich compost that supports soil restoration across Denver
  • Return at least 20% of that compost back to the GES community and surrounding neighborhoods

It’s a powerful example of how organizations, mission-driven businesses, and local neighborhoods can work together to create meaningful environmental change.

Regenerating Soil, Strengthening Community

The National Western Center’s support for this effort aligns with its broader sustainability priorities, which include:

  • Advancing climate resilience through circular waste solutions
  • Supporting food security in the GES community
  • Piloting place-based innovations that can scale across Colorado

This work was recently bolstered by a $374,000 grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment awarded to Compost CO to expand their processing capacity and impact.

“Food waste comes in—how can we use that as a resource to restore soils in GES and beyond?” asks Fussell. This collaboration is helping answer that question.

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