International Compost Awareness Week is May 2-8

AdkAction’s Compost for Good project is joining environmental and recycling businesses, organizations, community groups and individuals around the globe in celebrating International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) during the first week of May. The theme of this year’s Compost Awareness Week is “Grow, Eat… COMPOST… Repeat.”

“The theme recognizes the circular movement of the organics recycling process flowing from farm to table to farm again. This circular process turns recycled organic materials into compost which creates healthy soils leading to more nutrient dense fruits and vegetables, with those organic residuals going back to being composted and the process starts again,” explained Amy Freeman, ICAW Committee Chair.

Throughout the week, AdkAction will be sharing resources and information to build awareness of the benefits of compost use and organics recycling. The Compost for Good team of John Culpepper, Katie Culpepper, and Jennifer Perry will be available to answer questions about composting at any scale, from backyard bins to community composting, through the Compost for Good Discussion Group on Facebook.

Compost is important for improving and maintaining high quality soil, growing healthy plants, reducing the use of fertilizer and pesticides, improving water quality and protecting the environment. Composting keeps nutrients in the community, which builds local resilience, heals soils, and helps reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.  Organics recycling plays a key role in keeping valuable materials out of landfills.

In 2020 Compost for Good became a full-fledged AdkAction project, working towards our goal to make organic waste recycling more commonplace throughout the region and engaging in outreach to promote organic waste as a valuable resource.

There is a growing need for effective, adaptable, and affordable community composting systems that can process unsorted food waste—including meat and dairy—and other organic materials. To meet that need, Compost for Good designed a community-scale composter and is sharing the free open-source design guide and operator manual.  Four of these community-scale composters are operating in the Adirondacks, processing a combined 6,000+ pounds of food waste each month. More are on the way!