Free Composting Workshops

Posted by on March 21, 2003

Attend a city sponsored Composting workshop and take home a free composting bin!!!!! Learn about worm composting if you don’t have outdoor space!

The City of Philadelphia Streets Department is pleased to invite residents to one of the following free composting workshops:

? Mount Airy Wednesday, March 26, 7:00 p.m.
Lovett Memorial Library
6945 Germantown Avenue

? West Philadelphia Saturday, April 5, 2:00 p.m.
Haddington Branch Library
446 North 65th Street

? Ogontz Wednesday, April 9th, 6:00 p.m.
Ogontz Branch Library
6017 Ogontz Avenue

? Oak Lane Wednesday, April 30, 6:30 p.m.
Oak Lane Branch Library
6614 North 12th Street

? Center City Wednesday, May 7th, 7:00 p.m.
Central Library
1901 Vine Street
Montgomery Auditorium

Training programs are one to two hours in length. After completing the workshop, Philadelphia residents are urged to join the Recycling through Composting Team. To join, participants sign a pledge to compost yard waste and report on materials diverted from their household waste stream. The signed pledge form entitles the household to one home compost bin worth approximately $80. Residents interested in attending a compost-training workshop must pre-register by calling (215) 686-5444. Anyone is welcome to attend as a guest and receive training and a manual, but only pre-registered Philadelphia residents presenting appropriate
identification will be eligible to receive a back yard composter. If demand exceeds supply, priority will be given to the earliest registrants.

“We thank the enthusiastic members of the Recycling through Composting Team whose commitment to this environmentally sound program has helped to make it a growing success. We hope to welcome another 500 households into the program this year,” says David B. Robinson, City of Philadelphia Recycling Coordinator. “Why throw away leaves and clippings, when you can turn them into a valuable resource?” Holmesburg Librarian Catherine Huntzberry, who composts in her garden, says, “I consider it black gold.”

Philadelphia’s gardeners have endured a cold, snowy winter, and are eager to start working in their yards and community gardens. As they begin to clear dead growth and pull weeds, they can build compost piles to save landfill space while improving the soil in their own gardens.

According to reports from team members, each household that joins the Recycling through Composting Team diverts an average of 500 pounds of yard waste per year from the waste stream. The City’s Recycling through Composting Program provides Philadelphia residents with free training about urban composting, including an introduction to worm farming for those who don’t have outdoor space.

Thanks to the support of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the City can make backyard compost bins available to participants at no charge.

The City of Philadelphia Streets Department is pleased to be partnering with neighborhood facilities of the Free Library of Philadelphia in extending the Recycling through Composting Program to the public.

Individuals, community gardens and environmentally-concerned organizations interested in learning more about this program should call (215) 686-5444. A recording is available on that line 24 hours a day. Program information can also be obtained by visiting the Streets Department’s web site at http://www.phila.gov/streets or by watching the City’s Government Access Cable Channel 64.

(forwarded from Pennsylvania Horticultural Society)