Recycling through Composting Workshops

Posted by on March 18, 2005

There’s still room in the Recycling through Composting Workshops!

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

Northwest Philadelphia: Saturday, April 2, 2005, 2:00 p.m.
Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 8480 Hagy’s Mill Rd.

Northern Liberties: Wednesday, April 6, 2005, 6:00 p.m.
Ramonita de Rodriguez Branch Library, 600 West Girard Avenue

Northwest Philadelphia: Wednesday, April 13, 2005, 6:30 p.m.
Andorra Branch Library, 705 East Cathedral Road

Northwest Philadelphia: Wednesday, April 27, 2005, 6:30 p.m.
Lovett Memorial Library, 6945 Germantown Avenue, Mount Airy

Center City Philadelphia: Wednesday, May 4, 2005, 6:45 p.m.
Central Library, 1901 Vine Street, Montgomery Auditorium

Northeast Philadelphia: Saturday, May 14, 2005, 2:00 p.m.
Katherine Drexel Library, 11099 Knights Road at Fairdale Avenue

Training programs are two hours long. 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 may entitle the household to one home compost bin.

Residents interested in attending a compost-training workshop must pre-register. Call (215) 686-5444, extension 2. 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; the date on which the workshop is held does not affect availability.

With spring just around the corner, Philadelphia’s gardeners are eager to start working in their yards and community garden plots. 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 and with the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education 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, then press number 2. A recording system is available on that line 24 hours a day.