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 Covers raw materials, the compost process, composting methods, pile construction, using compost, troubleshooting, and using the guide as an educational resource. Intended for home composters and educational programs.

This publication was awarded a blue ribbon in the 1991 ASAE Educational Aids Competition.

 

Manual Explains Methods and Benefits of Home Composting
 

For Immediate Release

April 2003 

 
With landfills reaching maximum capacity, many people want to find alternatives for garbage disposal that will benefit, rather than harm, their environment. Small scale composting can turn their organic yard and kitchen wastes - 20 to 30 percent of all waste - into valuable resources for lants and microorganisms.
A 48-page manual called Composting to Reduce the Waste Stream: A Guide to Small Scale Food and Yard Waste Composting, NRAES-43, explains the basics of composting and provides design information for simple home composting systems. The methods described in the manual even improve on the natural composting cycle. The publication was written by Nancy Dickson, Tellus Institute, Boston, Massachusetts; Thomas Richard, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Cornell University; and Robert Kozlowski, Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture, Cornell University.

Composting to Reduce the Waste Stream explains how to construct and maintain a compost pile. It outlines factors affecting the composting process, including aeration, moisture, and temperature. Throughout the manual, numerous illustrative figures, tables, and diagrams clarify the details of home composting. An appendix to the manual provides step-by-step instructions for constructing compost bins.

The manual also outlines methods for using compost to enrich flower and vegetable gardens and improve the soil around trees and shrubs. It also contains a section on troubleshooting problems in the compost pile. Volunteers, teachers, and community leaders can use Composting to Reduce the Waste Stream to start educational programs on home composting. A section in the manual details how to reorganize the information for the needs of various audiences.

Composting to Reduce the Waste Stream: A Guide to Small Scale Food and Yard Waste Composting, NRAES-43, is available for $8.00 (plus shipping and handling) from NRAES, Cooperative Extension, PO Box 4557, Ithaca, New York 14852-4557. Quantity discounts are available. The shipping and handling charge is $4.25 for a single copy within the continental United States. New York residents, add sales tax (calculated on both the cost of publications and the shipping and handling charges. Click here for more information). If ordering more than one copy or if ordering from outside the continental United States, please contact NRAES for shipping costs. Orders from outside the United States must be prepaid in U.S. funds. Major credit cards are accepted, and checks should be made payable to NRAES. For information about quantity discounts, or for a free publications catalog, contact NRAES by phone at (607) 255-7654, by fax at (607) 254-8770, or by e-mail at nraes@cornell.edu. NRAES also maintains a web site at http://www.nraes.org.