Massachusetts Network of Home Composters Workshops & Demonstrations

MS Word 23 KB

These workshops teach the basics of composting and provide information and materials for participants to use to promote composting in their communities. Compost bins are available for $20 or less at some of these workshops.

Composting Demonstrations
Composting display featuring compost bins, worm bin and handouts. There will be ongoing demonstrations of how to compost and staff on hand to answer questions. 

Workshops for Educators
Bring the fascinating world of earthworms and their ecosystems into your classroom or schoolyard as a way of recycling organic material. Composting is an excellent way to teach about organisms, ecosystems, decomposition and energy transformation. Learn how composting fits into the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.

Network of Home Composters
These workshops teach the basics of composting and provide information and materials for participants to use to promote composting in their communities. Compost bins will be available for $20 or less at some of these workshops.

See the calendar for the latest workshops and demonstrations.  For more information about workshops or the Network of Home Composters, contact Ann McGovern at 617-292-5834 or Ann.McGovern@state.ma.us, or one of the following organizations about regional opportunities:

• Boston: City of Boston Recycling Hotline at 617-635-4959 or Earthworks Projects 617-623-2784
• Cape Cod: Cape Cod Cooperative Extension: 508-362-2511 x585
• Western Massachusetts: Center for Ecological Technology at 413-445-4556, Franklin County Solid Waste Management District at 413-772-2438, or Hilltown Resource Management Cooperative at 413-268-3845

Why Compost?
Home composting is the least expensive, most rewarding and environmentally sound method of managing the organic component of our waste stream. Leaves, yard trimmings, kitchen scraps and soiled paper make up nearly half of all household wastes. In addition to being costly, disposal of organic material causes problems at landfills and incinerators. This material is actually a valuable resource which, through composting, can easily be converted to nutrient-rich humus and used to dramatically improve soil quality. Composting is a simple process available to everyone, with or without a backyard.

Workshop Goals
The goals of the workshops are twofold: to enable participants to gain the information necessary to compost at home, and to establish a "Network of Home Composters" who will educate others in their communities about home composting. Therefore, both novice and experienced composters are encouraged to attend the workshops.

• The biological process of decomposition
• What can and cannot be composted in your backyard
• Worm bins - how to compost at home if you don't have a backyard
• How to build a compost pile
• Different types of bins and how to make them; bins available under MassDEP's statewide contract
• How to use finished compost
• How to develop a compost system that fits into your schedule

This part of the workshop includes a 15 minute video presentation, followed by an outdoor composting demonstration and a question and answer session.

The second half of the workshop provides materials and information needed to enable participants to promote and demonstrate home composting in their communities. These materials include:

• Information on bins available to municipalities at cost, through state contract, and/or grants
• Outline (script) for a home composting presentation
• Home Composting brochures/masters
• Instructions on bin building
• Worm composting information
• Bibliography of composting literature
• Sample promotional material
• Resource list of slide shows, videotapes and teaching guides available
• How to set up a bin distribution program in your community

During this part of the workshop, each participant develops an action plan to use as a guideline for promoting home composting in his/her community.

Each participant who completes the workshop is given the opportunity to become a member of the Massachusetts Network of Home Composters, a group of volunteers who promote source reduction through home composting. Through their efforts, the practice of home composting will continue to spread throughout Massachusetts, potentially reducing the need for disposal of household wastes by as much as half.

Sponsors
The Network of Home Composters workshops are presented by MassDEP in conjunction with the City of Worcester, Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers, the Town of Mashpee, and Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary to encourage the practice of composting to reduce the waste stream and reap many horticultural benefits.