Tapping the Postconsumer Bounty
Kompost Kids is poised to launch its first postconsumer compost pilot project, partnering with local businesses to divert organics from landfills and use it to create compost and soil. The central premise of the pilot is that businesses, by diverting organic waste from the solid waste stream, can reduce the frequency and volume of waste pickups. Overall waste removal costs – landfill, recycling, and
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
Winter Composting
Community composting can be performed all year long, but the hard freezes encountered in colder climates pose special challenges. It may be that winter composting is limited to stockpiling frozen kitchen scraps for later incorporation after spring thaws. Decomposition slows down considerably at the lowest temperatures and may stop completely, but frozen material will “ripen” upon thawing and create more surface area for the
How to Maintain a Compost Site
You will flip your contribution bin or ADD HERE bin (Bin 1) whenever it gets full or at least once per month into your next available bin (Bin 2). You will not add fresh contributions to Bin 2, and you may even post a sign that says “DO NOT ADD” to make it clear for all users. When your ADD HERE bin gets full
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.