Sell backyard composting bins and/or kitchen scrap containers at a subsidized price.

Solicit corporate sponsors for a composting bin give-away contest.

Sponsor one or more PLANT workshops in your community (contact the CCC for details).

Include an insert about scheduled composting activities with utility service bills in early April.

Convene a summit giving local schools, hospitals, corporate campuses, etc. an opportunity to discuss how they can cooperatively work together to organize central collection stations to facilitate pick-up of food and other organic wastes by local composting companies.

Meet with local restaurant and grocer associations to discuss options for food waste collections and changing from non-recyclable disposables to those that can be composted or recycled.

Work with local Cooperative/Industrial Extension agents to organize a composting demonstration, field day, or local compost facility tour for large scale waste generators and/or end users.

Include compost-oriented brochures at your booth when exhibiting at home and garden shows, trade shows, etc. Place links to the Carolinas Composting Council website (www.cra-recycle.org/cccindex.htm) and other composting sites on your website.

Host a PLANT workshop (contact the CCC for details) designed specifically for residential landscape and nursery industry professionals.

Tossing everything into the garbage can is a bad habit, but it’s a habit that’s easy to kick. The following activities are designed to help focus attention on "bad" waste disposal habits, both at the home and community level, and to help students discover ways to "KICK THE CAN" through organics recycling.

OBJECTIVES:

To demonstrate the biological changes that take place during composting and provide a basic understanding about how the composting process works.

To demonstrate how proper management can speed up the composting process.

To demonstrate how composting can be an effective tool in conserving landfill space.

To help older students understand the relationship between the degradation rate of the three waste management options and associated costs for siting, construction, and management. To help students correlate the problems associated with siting new landfills with solutions offered by composting.

YOU WILL NEED: 3 Rubbermaid containers, 1 plastic garbage bag, a compost thermometer, a rain gauge, rabbit food (optional), an ice pick or awl (adult use only), a shovel, water, two bricks or blocks. TIME FACTOR: A minimum of two weeks composting time … 30 days is better.

1. Make three identical piles of organic waste materials including paper and newspaper, dry leaves, grass clippings, loose (not baled) straw or dry hay, twigs and other vegetative debris, cafeteria waste (no meats, grease, or dairy), a magazine, etc. If you don’t have access to enough grass clippings, substitute rabbit food. Punch holes 2-3 inches apart in the sides and bottom of two of the containers with the awl.

2. Take the first pile and tear, shred, or cut all of its contents into small (1-inch or smaller) pieces. Between each carbon layer (paper, cardboard, yard waste, leaves, etc.), scatter a layer of grass clippings (or rabbit food) and be sure to set aside identical amounts of grass to add to the other piles. When you are finished, there should be about 30 times more carbon in the pile than grass (or rabbit food). Mix the pile thoroughly to insure a homogeneous blend. Moisten (do not soak) the pile and mix again. Take a photo of the pile. Shovel it into a punched container. Label: CONTROLLED. Level the contents, but do not shake or jiggle the container – you want to preserve as much air space as possible. Measure and record the volume (cubic inches) of the container contents. Mark the contents level on the inside of the can with a Sharpie or other waterproof marker. Secure the lid. This container will replicate conditions in a scientific composting environment where air delivery and moisture content are controlled.

3. Roughly shred contents of the second pile (tear magazines and newspapers in fourths, break sticks into 12-inch pieces, etc.). Include the same volume of grass or rabbit food, but do not layer. Mix once. Take a photo of the pile. Shovel material into a punched container. Label: WINDROW. Record the volumetric measurement of the contents and mark the contents level with a marker. Do not lid. This container will replicate conditions in an unmanaged windrow or backyard composting bin.

4. Take a photo of the last pile and place all contents in a plastic garbage bag as you typically would at home. Tie the bag securely. Stomp on the bag a few times to "compact" the contents (don’t worry if the bag tears). Place the bag inside the last container (no holes). Record the volumetric measurement of the contents. Secure the lid. Label: LANDFILL. This container will replicate conditions of bagged garbage in a landfill.

7. Place all three containers outdoors in a shady area near a water supply. Place the rain gauge next to the WINDROW container and make sure the container and gauge will collect rainwater, but not roof run-off. Place the CONTROLLED container with the bottom holes on two bricks spaced as far apart as possible to allow air circulation.

8. Do not disturb the LANDFILL container or the WINDROW container throughout the composting period except to visually monitor and take temperatures in the WINDROW container.

9. Monitor the WINDROW and CONTROLLED piles every day for temperatures and volume reduction. Record daily rainfall amounts from the rain gauge and ambient temperature. Make an olfactory evaluation – does it smell? Which one has the strongest odor? Is the odor pleasant or unpleasant? Is it better or worse than the day before?

10. On the fourth day, after recording temperatures and volumes, give the CONTROLLED can a good shake. Fluff it up as much as possible. If available, dump the contents into a wheel barrow or box, then transfer the contents back into the container. Repeat several times. Take a handful of the material and squeeze:

• If water runs out, it’s too wet – fluff it some more and then repeat the squeeze test.

• If the material crumbles, it’s too dry. Sprinkle with water and mix, then repeat the squeeze test. Record how much water was added.

• If the ball holds its shape without crumbling or releasing water, the moisture level is right. Put the lid back on.

Be sure to record the amount of time it takes to monitor/manage the pile each time.

11. Repeat #10 every 3 days during the composting period. The longer you allow the material to compost, the more stable it will be. When fully stable, the volume of material in the CONTROLLED container will be about 50% of its original size, be a darker color, and have a pleasant, dirt-like aroma. If possible, allow the CONTROLLED compost to fully stabilize before ending the experiment.

12. Every five days, dump the WINDROW pile out on the ground and shovel it back into the container again. Be sure to record the amount of time it takes to monitor/manage the pile each time.

12. On the final day, measure the volume of all three containers. Dump the contents out on the ground side-by-side. Record olfactory, textural, moisture, particle size, and other observations. Take a photograph of each pile and one showing all three piles to compare with photos taken on the day of pile construction.

13. Use the photos, along with charts and graphs of volume reductions, rainfall and irrigation amounts, etc. as the basis for class discussion.

LANDFILL – no physical change ... contents are about the same as they were when they went into the bag. If the seal on the can was tight, even biodegradation of the food waste may be minimal.

WINDROW – moderate degradation, but not as much as the CONTROL pile. If the size of the pile was of sufficient mass to effect temperatures changes, highs and lows should be more extreme and erratic than the CONTROL pile. Ammonia odor may be detectable. Some volume reduction. Rate of degradation and odor will be influenced by the amount of rainfall (pile was too wet or too dry).

CONTROL -- Compost is fully stable, has uniform particle size, and an earthy smell. If the composting mass was of sufficient size, there will be an initial temperature spike, followed by a leveling off and slowly decline. Ammonia odor in the pile should show a steady decline due to balance of moisture and high oxygen levels (provided by frequent turning … the lack of oxygen creates odors in decaying material). Aeration also removes heat … excess heat kills the aerobic microbes responsible for biodegradation.

How does landfilling compare to windrow and controlled composting? How do the two composting methods compare with each other?

Compare temperature charts. Was one process more erratic than the other? Why? What is the benefit of moderating heat build-up during the composting process?

For this cost analysis exercise, assume the following:

-- One cubic yard of organic waste is generated by your school every day.

-- Labor cost for someone to manage the compost center is $15 per hour.

-- Cost for each container is $20.

-- Land costs $6,000 per acre.

-- Labor costs will increase 5% every three years and landfill tipping fees will increase $10 every three years.

-- One cubic yard of organic waste weighs one ton.

1. How much space (in cubic yards) would be required to landfill the school’s organic waste over the next 20 years? If burying the waste six feet deep, how many acres would be required? What would the land cost? Based on a tipping fee of $35 per ton, how much would it cost to landfill this waste over 20 years?

2. How much land would be required to compost the waste in a windrow operation, assuming a 3-month decomposition rate? What would the land cost? What would it cost to run this windrow operation over the next 20 years?

3. How much space would be required to compost the waste in a controlled operation, assuming a 30-day decomposition rate? What would the land cost? What would it cost to run a controlled composting operation over the next 20 years?

If your community would decide to ban organics from its landfill, which composting method would you recommend to your government officials? Why?

1. How many cubic yards of organic waste does your school generate each year? To determine this volume, you will need to conduct a waste stream assessment, monitoring generation rates (biodegradable cafeteria waste, grass clippings, tree trimmings, paper, cardboard, bedding from animal cages, biosolids from wastewater treatment, etc.) for a specific period of time (one week or one month). Divide by the number of generation days covered, then multiply that figure by the total number days per year students and teachers are in the school. Deduct any volume that is already being recycled.

2. Of the volume not being recycled, what would it cost to landfill or incinerate this waste based on your community’s current tipping or incineration fees?

3. What would you need to operate an outdoor windrow operation to compost this waste (labor + space + tractor with bucket or front-end loader) and what would it cost?

4. What would you need to operate a containerized composting operation to process this waste and what would it cost? Compare the cost/ease of operation of several contain systems, including commercial and do-it-yourself designs.

5. If you used the compost at the school, how much would the school save in soil amendments and fertilizers? For comparison purposes, apply compost at a rate of 20 cubic yards per acre.

6. If you sold the compost at $25 per cubic yard, how much revenue could you generate for the school? How much of that is profit? If you packaged the compost in 1 quart bags and sold each one for $2, how much revenue could you generate for the school? How much of that is profit?

7. Develop a marketing plan for the sale and distribution of the compost. Include factors like product(s) descriptions, market research, advertising and promotion, and operating and marketing budgets.

8. What would it cost to collect this waste and send it to a municipal or commercial composting facility in your area?

Based on your findings, develop a waste disposal recommendation for presentation to school administrators.