Compost 101 – Maxline Brewery

Composting food waste is an essential component of waste management and is vital to addressing the current environmental crisis. Food waste is a significant contributor to landfills and creates harmful methane gas emissions, which are a leading cause of climate change. Composting diverts food waste from landfills, reduces methane emissions, and provides a valuable resource for agriculture and gardening.

Learn the basics of composting food and yard waste at Compost Queen’s Compost 101 lecture series hosted by Jamie Blanchard-Poling. Join us at Maxline Brewing in Fort Collins for a one hour, relaxed atmosphere lecture that covers inputs, recipes, restricted items, ideal temperatures, common mistakes, and pro tips for managing successful compost piles. The course teaches various methods, including compost boxes, stationary bins, tumblers, multi-stalls, and aerated static piles, allowing attendees to choose the best option for their needs.

Ticket includes a beverage of your choice.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, food waste is the largest component of municipal solid waste in landfills and accounts for around 22% of landfill waste. When food waste decomposes in landfills, it creates greenhouse gasses like methane, which is up to 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere. Methane emissions contribute to climate change, and reducing these emissions is crucial to mitigating the effects of global warming.

Composting food waste diverts organic matter from landfills, reducing methane emissions and other harmful greenhouse gases. Composting is a natural process where microorganisms break down organic material, such as food scraps, into a nutrient-rich soil amendment that can be used for gardening and agriculture. Composting provides a sustainable alternative to conventional fertilizers, which often contain harmful chemicals that can harm the environment and human health.

Composting also helps build healthy soil, which is crucial for plant growth and resilience. Compost improves soil structure, increases water retention, and enhances nutrient availability. Healthy soil is essential for agriculture and gardening and helps mitigate the effects of climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

In addition to its environmental benefits, composting food waste also has economic and social benefits. Composting can reduce the costs of waste management by diverting food waste from landfills, which reduces the volume of waste that needs to be transported and disposed of. Composting can also create jobs in the waste management industry and contribute to local economic development.

Composting can also build community resilience and social connections. Community composting initiatives, such as Compost Queen in Fort Collins, provide an opportunity for residents to come together to address local waste management issues and create a valuable resource for the community. Community composting can also provide educational opportunities for residents to learn about composting, waste reduction, and sustainable agriculture.

Composting food waste can be done on a small scale in a backyard compost bin or on a larger scale in a commercial composting facility. Backyard composting is a simple and cost-effective way for individuals to reduce their food waste and create a valuable soil amendment for their gardens. Backyard composting requires a compost bin or pile, which can be made from materials such as wood pallets, wire mesh, or plastic bins. The compost bin or pile should be placed in a well-drained area and filled with a mixture of nitrogen-rich and carbon-rich materials, such as food scraps, yard waste, and shredded paper.

Composting food waste requires proper management to ensure that the composting process is effective and safe. Proper management includes monitoring the compost pile’s temperature and moisture content, mixing the compost pile regularly, and avoiding adding restricted materials, such as meat, dairy, and oil products. Composting requires patience, as the process can take several months to a year to complete.

Compost Queen is the recipient of the United States Composting Council’s Small Compost Manufacturer of the Year for 2022 and is owned by Jamie Blanchard-Poling, Certified Compost Operations Manager. Compost Queen provides commerical and residential composting services in Larimer County with a specialty in residential curbisde composting. Their Microsite Urban Community Composting (MUCC) model uses a network of urban farm locations to compost food scraps from nearby residences in addition to the farm byproducts. This decentralized network of composting allows for hyper-local carbon recycling and closes the nutrient cycle from tables to farms in Fort Collins, Timnath, Wellington and Laporte, Colorado.