Undergraduate freshman chemistry labs typically generate aqueous waste containing toxic metals. This waste must be properly handled to prevent contamination of the aquatic environment. This work describes experiments measuring the binding of metals in laboratory waste to ordinary garden compost. If the metals are removed from aqueous solution, the water can be disposed down the drain. The waste used in these experiments was obtained from a traditional qualitative analysis scheme and contained Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Mn, Sn, Pb, Zn, along with other metals at a pH ~ 1. Some of this waste was adjusted to pH 4.5 to determine how pH affected the binding. The waste was dripped through a column of garden compost and fractions of the resulting solution was collected and analyzed for metals using ICP-OES. The efficiency of the compost to remove metals from solution varied considerably for the different metals in the waste and for the waste solutions at different pH. Generally Sn, Pb, and Al had strong affinity for the compost, while Mn, Co, and Zn had weaker affinity for the compost. Two grams of compost reduced the metal concentration enough to safely discharge between 6-65 mL of aqueous waste depending on the metals present and the pH of the waste solution. Thus, this method was successful in concentrating certain metals in the compost and converting the waste into a solid form making it easier to dispose.