Riverwest Compost Bins – Closed Indefinitely
UPDATE October 2020: With input from the gardeners and land stewards of the Milwaukee Friends Meeting location, the Kompost Kids volunteers made the decision to close the Riverwest compost bins indefinitely. Despite being closed over the summer, folks kept adding to the pile – which made it really hard on the volunteers to safely finish off the process. Community compost bins only work when
Free Compost!
Our site at Auer and Gordon in Riverwest, lovingly renovated a few years ago, now cycles toward the public entrance to the nature preserve and offers a self-serve model of compost screening. Compost is there for the taking, and the public is welcome to visit our site to learn about how to produce first-rate local compost with rudimentary tools and materials. Our system is
Possible Problems and Solutions
1. Not Enough Nitrogen Solution: Engage more residents and businesses as contributors. Please see Restaurant Composting for more tips on how to properly increase your nitrogen source. Coffee shops, with their huge daily supplies of spent coffee grounds, are a natural place to start. 2. Insufficient Brown Source Solution: Start stockpiling brown source material right away. Leaves, shredded nonglossy paper, wood chips, hay, straw,
How and When to Use a Resting Pile
Your resting pile can look like a heap, be enclosed in another bin, or added directly into an unused garden bed or a garden bed that you will not plant until next spring. You can tarp it or leave your resting pile open, though covering it will prevent the leaching of valuable nutrients. You can even build a simple three-sided structure for larger resting
Establish Community Compost Site Rules
Providing rules will help ensure that people are educated about using the community compost site and will help to minimize the cleanup burden on volunteers or gardeners. You can either purchase a rules sign for (AmeriSigns is creating a template for this) or make them yourselves with this verbiage. Some great sign material includes paint, primed plywood, old sandwich boards, or whatever else you
Secure a Brown Source
Kompost Kids may be able to help you secure a brown source with the help of your local municipality. Brown source security is essential for making sure your food contributions are properly covered and maintaining a proper balance of carbon- and nitrogen-rich material. Brown sources are materials such as leaves, wood chips, hay, straw, shredded nonglossy paper, sawdust from untreated wood, and shredded cardboard.