tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603202988847584283.post142154672827998068..comments2023-10-22T09:24:14.464-04:00Comments on The Slow Cook: Searching for D.C.'s Municipal CompostEd Bruskehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217850970833353800noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603202988847584283.post-46365379787564318982013-04-26T16:14:35.923-04:002013-04-26T16:14:35.923-04:00As of today (Friday, 26 April 2013) the site at Ne...As of today (Friday, 26 April 2013) the site at New Jersey and K SE no longer exists. Whatever it was and wherever the entrance was, I could not find it today. Blame development.<br /><br />However, the Fort Totten Transfer station has free stuff. I loaded up with a number of bags -- probably my 90 gallons. It looks great and was great to use for planting my camellias in my backyard this afternoon. It's like a combination of mulch and compost -- rich and brown with large chunks and lots of smaller bits. I mixed it with some gravel (for drainage) and my native soil (a combination of clay, topsoil, and years-old mulch).<br /><br />There was some trash in the mulch -- I found a metal spoon and there were other metal things there that other people had put to the side. No big deal. While planting, I only found one other significant inclusion: a piece of yellow plastic.<br /><br />I don't know what the hours officially are -- none are posted on the DPW website or at the Fort Totten site. I got there around 11:00 and when I was about 3/4 done, an employee came over and said -- politely -- that they didn't open until 1:00 p.m. but he would let me do my thang. I thanked him and asked him about tomorrow's hours -- he said they open at 8:00 a.m.felixjerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10783007986638500397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603202988847584283.post-64681651290586350212012-02-06T15:58:49.948-05:002012-02-06T15:58:49.948-05:00Awesome! Thanks. I know where this is (close to ...Awesome! Thanks. I know where this is (close to the sand bag pick up from the flood), and I think I'll go get some. I'm concerned about heavy metals, rainwater chemicals, etc, though.Kelseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06111434339941867109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603202988847584283.post-80488875854371746182009-11-18T11:07:52.845-05:002009-11-18T11:07:52.845-05:00Heather, D.C. still does not have municipal compos...Heather, D.C. still does not have municipal composting. The leaves collected in the fall apparently are being composted--but not sure exactly where or how. The Department of Public Works recently sent out a notice saying composted leaves would be available to the public between March and October next year at the Benning Road and Fort Totten transfer stations. The contact for that is Kevin Twine at DPW, 202 671-2593. Please let me know if you get hold of him as I will be trying to track him down myself to get these questions answered.<br /><br />In addition, Common Good City Farm plans to take your food scraps for composting beginning in the spring, but asks that you bring some "brown" material as well. <br /><br />http://commongoodcityfarm.org/Ed Bruskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12217850970833353800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603202988847584283.post-5840403248850717062009-11-17T17:49:25.227-05:002009-11-17T17:49:25.227-05:00I just moved to DC from San Francisco and am missi...I just moved to DC from San Francisco and am missing the municipal composting! I plan on getting a worm bin in my apartment but I would still like to see composting available city-wide. I see this post is about a year old. Do you know if there has been any progress made? Or who would be the appropriate people to talk with to get this issue moving?Heather Driscollhttp://www.greenandtonic.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603202988847584283.post-48834570924591129622008-11-24T11:02:00.000-05:002008-11-24T11:02:00.000-05:00Note to anonymous: we don't normally publish anony...Note to anonymous: we don't normally publish anonymous comments. But thanks for that reminder about D.C. law. Do you have a link to it?Ed Bruskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12217850970833353800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603202988847584283.post-18815964153563446862008-11-24T10:58:00.000-05:002008-11-24T10:58:00.000-05:00It's great that DC composts these leaves.It's grea...It's great that DC composts these leaves.<BR/><BR/>It's great that DPW encourages composting.<BR/><BR/>What's not so great is that DCRA asserts that maintaining a compost pile on a residential property is illegal because it attracts rats.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603202988847584283.post-34983843313296633052008-09-21T22:10:00.000-04:002008-09-21T22:10:00.000-04:00I'm a little late to commenting here...I was doing...I'm a little late to commenting here...I was doing a search for local composting, in an effort to reduce my waste a bit. <BR/><BR/>This is a related issue,but my office building which ostensibly "recycles" actually doesn't. We separate, they comingle. I think DC has a huge way to go!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603202988847584283.post-2698503566352514682008-06-09T11:47:00.000-04:002008-06-09T11:47:00.000-04:00Community composting is a great concept, Meredith,...Community composting is a great concept, Meredith, but as far as I know, none exists in the District of Columbia. There was a small grant proposal for the Adams-Morgan area. I'm not sure if it's happening. Something we should all be pressing for...Ed Bruskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12217850970833353800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603202988847584283.post-31536926007444182572008-06-09T11:40:00.000-04:002008-06-09T11:40:00.000-04:00Any info on community composting? We collect kitc...Any info on community composting? We collect kitchen scraps and would like to be able to drop them off at a community compost site (we live in a small apartment and don't have the room to do our own composting.)Meredithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03179690421080955504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603202988847584283.post-74875386571559168652008-04-21T08:06:00.000-04:002008-04-21T08:06:00.000-04:00Thanks for the info! I know that the community gar...Thanks for the info! I know that the community garden I belong to has their own little compost pile, but I have taken to vermicomposting in my apartment. The worms don't eat all my food scraps, but I am still throwing away less. And they don't smell- I keep them in a container made by an Australian manufacturer (brand name is Can O Worms.)Magnifiquehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17763016005025000119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603202988847584283.post-57099868965909727822008-04-20T13:44:00.000-04:002008-04-20T13:44:00.000-04:00I love that, Janet. Thanks for the link. I'm creat...I love that, Janet. Thanks for the link. I'm creating a mucipal composting pageEd Bruskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12217850970833353800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603202988847584283.post-64007699845181387142008-04-19T20:06:00.000-04:002008-04-19T20:06:00.000-04:00Maybe you can point your city officials to little ...Maybe you can point your city officials to little ol' Lawrence, Kansas, which has a pretty good composting program: http://www.lawrencerecycles.org/organicsdistribution.shtml.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com