August 9, 2007

Try your hand at home composting to reduce waste and save money

The county of Santa Clara Home Composting Education Program has scheduled 19 free classes for residents to learn about home composting through December 2007. The workshops, being offered at various locations throughout the county, will teach residents how to turn food and yard waste into fertilizer at home.

Home Composting Education has been going strong for over 12 years. From July 2006-June 2007, a total of 1,311 residents attended the county’s free home composting workshops, compared to 943 from July 2005-June 2006.

“The number of county residents attending the free composting workshops and purchasing composting tools has increased dramatically,” said Elizabeth Constantino, Integrated Waste program manager. “More people seem to be looking for ways to make a positive impact on the environment. We encourage all residents to come and learn about the ways to reduce waste and save cost.”

Experts estimate that the average household that composts both yard and food waste will divert 579 pounds of waste per year. Home composting is a cost-effective way to recycle organic debris as it reduces the cost of yard trimming collection and processing, keeps kitchen wastes out of the landfill, and turns organic material into valuable product for gardens and houseplants. Home composting is not only great for gardens and landscaping; it can also help residents reduce cost on soil conditioners and water.

“As one of the county’s ‘green’ efforts, food waste composting at the county cafeterias has helped lower the county’s garbage bills,” said Supervisor Don Gage, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “Residents can also help protect the environment and save money by composting at home.”

There are two ways to compost at home--use of a compost bin or underground composting. Compost bins are available for purchase at $45 each by calling (408) 918-4640. When using a compost bin, residents can follow three easy steps:

1) Chop materials for quick breakdown.

2) Mix dry and woody materials with moist and green materials.

3) Maintain air and water balance by keeping compost moist.

For underground composting, residents can simply bury fruit and vegetable trimmings more than 1 foot under the soil surface.

Items that can be composted include plant trimmings, fallen leaves, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, rinsed-out and crushed eggshells and used paper towels. Do not compost such items as meat and bone, dairy products and grease, grains, beans and breads and animal feces.

For more information about the county’s Home Composting Program and workshop schedule, visit http://www.reducewaste.org, or call (408) 918-4640. The next free workshop is Aug.11, from 10 a.m.–noon, at the Almaden Community Center at 6445 Camden Ave. in San Jose.