Composting with Canyons

September 23, 2025 7:08 pm

There are a lot of things that I love about working for Canyons. There are the people that I get to work with. There is the “office,” the Salmon River nestled in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. There are the guests that I get to meet who bring great stories, new perspectives, and warmth. The food, the views.. I could go on and on. But there is a non-obvious part of working for Canyons that I love. And that is the fact that we compost as we float downriver!

You may or may not have noticed the 5 gallon buckets that join us for the trip but week after week, they are there, quietly collecting food waste. So, where do all of those food scraps go? Directly into the garden of our transportation director, Alex! In his garden he grows everything from tomatoes to peppers to carrots and more.

The compost even makes it full circle. If you’ve ever enjoyed our baked brie with jam, you’ve eaten something from Alex’s garden, nourished with compost from a previous Canyons trip!

You might think, okay that sounds really nice, but what is the big deal? It’s a huge one actually! As food decomposes in a landfill, it does so without oxygen. This process releases methane gas, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere about 25 times more than does carbon dioxide. When food waste is composted, it converts the food waste into stable carbon within the soil. If you’re looking to take a bit of the Canyons river energy home with you, consider finding a way to compost at home!