Collaborative Compost Initiative: City Compost Education

When food scraps and other compostable organic materials are sent to landfills, they decompose; releasing a potent greenhouse gas called methane. Composting reduces these greenhouse gas emissions. However, mass composting often deals with challenges from contamination when inorganic materials, like plastic, reach the compost pile. The answer to solving this problem is showing individuals how to compost in their own backyards.

The third and final collaborative compost project is the City Compost Education Project. This project involves Thames Region Ecological Association (TREA), City of London, London Middlesex Master Gardeners, Garden Club of London and Try Recycling. The goal of the project is to increase home composting in London as a low-cost sustainable program for managing residential organics including kitchen food scraps and yard materials. Objectives include providing workshops on home composting, increasing the number of composters sold from City of London EnviroDepots, and informing depot users about home composting and the available composter units.

The following activities were created to meet these objectives:

• TREA hosted “how to” workshops in March and June on composting which included sales of compost units for those wishing to get started right away. TREA also established an area at Grosvenor Lodge that is currently being used as a demonstration area where members of the London community can receive quality information on composting.

• The London Middlesex Master Gardeners hosted two “how to” workshops on composting.

• The London Garden Club held a compost and composter sale as part of their annual open house at the Civic Garden Centre

• Composters have been made available for sale at all four of the City of London’s EnviroDepots, including the Try Recycling Depot North. Along with this, staff have been encouraging patrons to compost if they do not already do so.

It’s still not too late to participate in this program and take advantage of the workshops being hosted by TREA in September and December. At the September 8^th workshop, Anne Boyd, the City’s Manager of Waste Diversion Programs, will be providing detailed multi-residential composting options. Gary Crowell, from the Good Green Earth Company, will also be joining TREA to present the Bokashi composting system; a great alternative used by many to handle food waste in apartment settings.

At the December 8^th workshop, Dr. Elizabeth Webb from Western University’s Laboratory for Stable Isotope Science will be joining TREA to explain a special soil science topic—ancient agriculture.

Congratulations to all of the project partners for an informative and wide ranging initiative to encourage Londoners to compost. Participating in composting, wherever you live, is a step in the right direction in growing London as a healthy, sustainable city.

Click here for more event information about TREA’s upcoming Composting Workshop Series. 

Click here for more information about the Collaborative Composting Initiative.

Article supplied with permission from the London Environmental Network (LEN) - http://londonenvironment.net/city-compost-education/