Contact : Alyssa Roush, Summer Intern
Phone : 307-733-7678
Email : recycleintern@tetonwyo.org

SATURDAY, June 27 - 10am - Noon - RAIN OR SHINE

Calico Italian Restaurant on Teton Village Road

Improve your soil and decrease your trash this summer: COMPOST! On Saturday, June 27 from 10am to noon (rain or shine), Jackson Community Recycling and Calico Italian Restaurant will present COMPOSTING 101, a free workshop designed to show how easy and useful composting can be. Participants will learn how to begin composting at home, reduce waste, enhance nutrient-poor soil, reduce lawn and garden chemical dependency, and establish better gardening and lawn feeding practices. Any fears that composting is too complicated, smelly, or technical will be dispelled!

Composting 101 features Judy Allen, an expert high altitude gardener, writer and instructor, who will present on backyard composting; Kelli Petrick, research and stewardship coordinator at Teton Science Schools, and Betsy Moyer, teacher at Teton Science Schools, who will demonstrate worm composting; and John Becker, an experienced commercial composter and gardener, who will "show off" his beautiful, rich compost piles at Calico.

Jackson Hole residents who have been skeptical of composting because they believe the following myths: "it's messy or smelly," "it attracts bears and critters," or "it's impossible in our cold climate," will be surprised to learn that composting is actually successful in our high altitude environment.

Composting is the best method for naturally enhancing your garden soil while making use of left over kitchen scraps and yard waste. Through the composting process, unwanted organic waste is broken down into nutrient rich humus that lightens clay soils, makes sandy soils retain water better, and helps prevent erosion. Composting also contributes to soil fertility and healthy root development in plants.

Composting is simple and the results are significant. A basic pile of yard waste left outside unattended will eventually break down through the natural decomposition process. Speeding this process up with a little discipline can create nutrient rich soil in as little as 6 weeks time.

All that is necessary to start composting is a little brown organic matter (leaves, grass clippings, hay, etc.) mixed with a little green (vegetable waste, coffee grinds, manure, etc.). Keeping compost warm, moist, and aerated (with a little stirring) speeds up the breakdown process. For home composting, a prefabricated black composting receptacle keeps things tidy while also creating a very warm environment for compost. It is important to note that composting is possible all year around in Jackson Hole.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, yard and food waste make up approximately 30% of the waste stream in the United States. If all organic wastes were composted, one fourth of the material currently being land filled would be put to good use. In fact, studies have shown that home composting can divert an average of 700 pounds of material per household per year from the waste stream.

Thanks to Calico Restaurant and John Becker for their support of this workshop.

Heather T. Overholser
Executive Director
Jackson Community Recycling
P.O. Box 9512
3270 S. Adams Canyon Road
Jackson, WY 83002
307-733-7678
307-733-7616 (fax)
www.tetonwyo.org/recycling