What to do no compost or mulch facilities :(

[smokensqueal]

I'm devastated I finally got a call back from our county's recycling program and found out we have NO compost or mulch facilities in our county. I know know of two bot both are about 60 miles away! I don't live in a city/town but I call the one I'm closest to and asked what they do with yard waste and they said they have a place out of city limits that they bring it to and burn it. Here I thought this county was more "aware" then the one I moved from. They at least have a place that you can bring yard waste and come back home with mulch or compost.

So now I'm going to start my quest. I'm not sure where I will end up but I hope I can either A. get the county to start a program or B. do it my self and see if some how I can make a living off it.

I'm still in shock and disbelief I almost want to break down and or strangle some one

[Charlie MV]

A really good chipper is less than a thousand dollars. Is that an option? It could make you some money if there are a few gardeners around you.

[cynthia_h]

What a complete pain.

I did a Google search on "solid waste management" + "Metro St. Louis" + compost, and got 7 hits. Probably the best one is this newsletter from Spring 2004:

https://www.ci.springfield.mo.us/community/cee/pdfs/spring04.pdf

The last couple of pages list members, whether corporate, governmental, or individual, of the group, and there is a page of phone numbers for contacts, too.

Although the newsletter is from 4 years ago, probably most of the contact info is still good.

Maybe you can go in with an existing program and enlarge it? I'm stunned that, in 2008, ANYBODY is recommending **burning** YIKES*** as a method of trash reduction.

Please let me know if any of these contacts work for you; I have a personal mission to find local composting programs throughout North America and get people connected with them.

Cynthia H.
USDA Zone 9, Sunset Zone 17

[Charlie MV]

Cynthia, there are many towns that are too small to manage a compost site especially in this economic climate. Our little burg doesn't have one either. We're struggling to run school buses.

[smokensqueal]

I'm not sure why that document would of came up. Springfield, MO is no where near St. louis. But the bad part is the one that is the closest is just north of St. Louis and that is one of them that is about 60 miles from me. I need something on the Illinois side.

[cynthia_h]

Charlie, the two largest solid-waste compost organizations around here are run by counties, not towns. You're right: very few towns, and not all cities, are in a position to offer this program.

Solid-waste companies, on the other hand, pay landfill owners fees for dumping. THAT is the incentive for the solid-waste company to try and get home-owners to reduce their garbage: the landfill fee is reduced, and the landfill will remain available longer.

So, when I search for these programs, I look for county programs, solid-waste companies, etc. I ask for the town name and the county name b/c sometimes one solid-waste company services part of a county but not the whole thing.

Tell me about school buses: in the Bay Area there basically are NO school buses. Kids have to be driven to school, walk (in groups, if parents wish), bicycle, or take public transit (buses). Lots of kid-school carpools around here. And teachers buy LOTS of their own classroom supplies.

I wasn't expecting to find a city program; I was hoping to find a county program.

smokensqueal, maybe you can pm me your town and county, and I'll look around again?

Cynthia H.
USDA Zone 9, Sunset Zone 17

[Charlie MV]

Cynthia, this place is so small and sparsely populated that city /county are pretty much one. We pay our neighborhood water company for waste hauling. Think Hooterville. Only bagged garbage is eligible. Yard waste is hauled kind of "whenever" ranging fron monthly to 6 or 8 weeks or when the mood hits Larry Darrel and Darrel. Neither Darrel nor Darrel nor Larry will tell me what the schedule is or where they take yard waste. I think they're making art in a secret place. Remember we're in farm country and the farmers compost their own with huge machinery and bins. Most of it gets eaten by livestock. I asked a councilwoman about a compost program and she said "what's compost"? I explained and she said it sounded like trash and should go to the landfill. A healthy sense of humor is vital in rural SC.

The 3 landfills in the county are open 2 or 3 days a week each so the staff can move from one to another. The youngest staff I've seen is 72. When you ask one of them a question, be sure you stand back at least 3 feet so that when he spits his tobacco, your shoes stay clean. I love it here.Not everybody would.

Since I invested in the chipper, and since I pick up most of the neighborhood's yard waste, I should have a completely cooked, rich, flakey compost pile that measures 32'x5'x6' compressed, ready for my spring garden. I'll be doing a lot of tossing and watering but I figure I can plow in 4 inches over my quarter acre garden and then layer 6 more inched after I plant. I guess I'm a little nuts but daaayum I love fresh vegetables and hate the crap the grocery stores sell in the winter.

[cynthia_h]

Charlie, I completely understand now why you have such a TERRIFIC compost pile! Wow! Talk about making lemonade out of lemons....

But therer was one little eensy-beensy point I didn't understand. What is this "tobacco" stuff the guys are spitting out?

When I lived in Texas/Florida/Georgia, and visited Tennessee/North Carolina/Virginia/Louisiana, there was a favored plant called "terbacker." Sometimes "tuhbackuh"? Maybe it has been (genetically) modified?

Too bad you and smokensqueal are so far apart.

Cynthia

[Charlie MV]

Whether it's tobacco, terbacky, tubacuh or backy, you want to keep your distance. I'm happy to say I no longer need a translator in order to find the proper dump receptacle. I can pick up about every third word and usually get my trash in the right dumpster. Be sure you look them in the eye when they talk....not the mouth.

[smokensqueal]

Well I did find out that the EPA in Illinois regulates our composting facilities so I got on their site to see if I could find a list and sure enough I did! Just for all to see here is a link to the PDF [url]https://www.epa.state.il.us/land/landfill-capacity/2001/appendices-hij.pdf[/url] BUT the two they have listed no longer do composting. WHAT! No long do composting How can you do it at one time and not do it any more? They said they will still take my yard waste but they don't do composting or chipping they just throw it in with the rest of the trash. I feel sorry for the receptionist that answered the phone. She probable thinks I'm not all right in the head. I don't know how many times I asked the same question in a different format.

Any way for future referances if you are looking for a composting facility in your area you may want to check with your state EPA. They might be regulating it and have a list of places that say they do it. (doesn't mean the do. )