Composting
What is composting and why should I do it?
Watch this Composting Video to learn about how and why you should compost!
School Kids Talk Trash...And Composting! See video here!
Composting is nature’s way to recycle. It is the controlled, natural decomposition of organic matter.
Microorganisms and macroorganisms break down organic materials into compost, or humus, a nutrient-rich soil amendment that improves the health and efficiency of your garden ecosystem from the ground up... Read More...
Sign up for FREE composting workshops
here!
I Want My Discounted Compost Bin for My Yard
| Compost Bin
Voucher Program |
Business Assistance Guide for Mandatory Organics
Recycling
San Diego County offers free assistance to
businesses that want to develop programs to cut food waste, manage
compostable materials and save money. Please contact April Andrews at
(858) 694-2463 for more information on how the County can assist your
business in organics recycling.
GUIDES: Composting and Vermicomposting (composting with worms)
- Compost it Yourself Guide: Guide to Backyard Composting the full guide
- What is Composting and Why Do it?
- Choose a Compost Style that Works for You
- Composting Basics
- The Compost Continuum
- Vermicomposting Basics (composting with worms)
- Harvesting and Using your Compost
- Compost Troubleshooting & Additional Resources
Permitting for Composting Facilities
How to Permit a Green Materials Compost/Mulch Operation – A two page summary with recommendations to streamline permit requests
Organic Materials Processing Permit Guide – A visual summary of State and local regulations that may apply to facilities in unincorporated San Diego County
Regulatory Summary – Excerpts from regulations that may apply to facilities in unincorporated San Diego County
Animal Waste Management
VIDEO: Watch this Emmy Award winning Manure
Composting Video with Sam the Cooking Guy on the importance and
simplicity of manure composting.
Successful Manure Recycling Case Study - Costanzo Farm
Erosion Control
Compost modifies the physical soil properties, improving water-holding ability and resistance to compaction. For this reason, compost is more commonly being used as an erosion control material that enhances soil. Compost is made from readily available, inexpensive materials and is gaining ground as an accepted material for erosion control measures in construction projects and roadside landscaping in California whereby road and construction projects degrade and compact soil, causing breakdown of aggregates and loss of structure.
Together, the County Watershed Protection Program and the Recycling Section are working together on an erosion control pilot study at Poway Landfill. The control study is designed to measure the effectiveness of compost socks versus straw waddles in erosion control and slope stabilization over a one year period.
Learn more
Supplies, Workshops and Composting Assistance
- Solana Center for Environmental Innovation For more information on workshop dates and compost how-to's. (760) 436-7986 ext. 700
- Home Composting Resource Guide where to buy worms and related composting items.
School Composting Programs
The County offers free composting education and assistance with compost and worm bin set up and in some cases donation of bins. Assistance with composting is available on a first come first serve basis and for schools located in the unincorporated county.
- Solana Center for Environmental Innovation can help you set up a composting program in your school. (760) 436-7986 ext. 700
- Composting Tips for School and Community Gardens
- Composting in Schools - Options and Regulations
Compost Demonstration Sites
Learn how to produce a valuable soil amendment from your food scraps and yard waste. Composting workshops are offered in many unincorporated communities and compost demonstration sites
- Cuyamaca Water Conservation Garden Rancho San Diego
- Deer Park Monastery Unincorporated Escondido
- Crestridge Ecological Reserve at Earth Discovery Institute Crest
- 4S Ranch Community Garden (locked gate) 4S Ranch Community Garden- 17117 4S Ranch Parkway San Diego, CA 92127
-
Terra Madre Farm - unincorporated
Escondido
Landscaper Best Practices
Design and maintain commercial and residential landscapes?
Reduce the amount of yard waste you dispose
- Sustainable Landscape Practices Guide
- Trees: how to select proper trees for landscaping
- Trees: proper pruning techniques
- Trees: proper planting treachniques
- Trees and utilities
Yard Waste
No-Cost Chipping Service for Fuel (Vegetation) Reduction
- No-Cost Chipping Service for fuel reduction to qualified residents in certain areas of the unincorporated County
Other Resources
- Neighborhood Composting 101: This is A 5 week intensive, experiential, roll in the dirt type of course, designed to prepare you to successfully compost... for yourself, for your family, and for your neighborhood! Enrollment for February is open! If you or a friend have the slightest interest in learning to craft top notch compost, Inika is here to help! Apply online now.
- Soil Safari: Join in on the Soil Safari, an educational excursion into the universe that lives under our feet. Students will learn the importance of transforming foodbits into nourishing soil, they'll learn the ingredients of gourmet compost (and the importance of reducing food waste), and they'll learn the means of crafting a complete compost pile! For more info and sign ups click here.
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