Waste Prevention World

Composting and Grasscycling Articles

• Grasscycling offers simple alternative
• Catch the composting craze
• A recipe for good compost
• Xeriscaping
• Worm bins
• Tire reuse can be fun

Grasscycling offers simple alternative

Goal: To encourage readers to practice grasscycling.

One of summer's great traditions is dragging out the old lawnmower, cutting the grass, and trashing those mounds and mounds of clippings. But before you get right back into the swing of things, did you ever stop to think what happens to all those bags of clippings generated from your, and your neighbor's, weekly mowing ritual?

Grass clippings make up a surprisingly large portion of California's waste stream -- as much as several million tons each year. Yard waste, on average, makes up 15 percent of all garbage, and during the growing season half of that is grass clippings. With California's communities looking for ways to reduce waste, a simple alternative to bagging clippings and dumping them in the landfill is to practice the art of "grasscycling."

Unlike many other forms of waste reduction, grasscycling sometimes requires you to do less, rather than more, work. Instead of raking up all those clippings and putting them in a bag or at the curb for pick-up, grasscycling is the natural recycling of grass. In other words, just leave clippings on the lawn when mowing.

Won't that cause thatch, which leads to decay and a bad looking lawn? Think again. Grass clippings decompose quickly and release valuable nutrients back into the soil. University studies have shown that grasscycling is not harmful to lawns when they are cared for properly. In fact, grasscycling has long been a common practice on large grass areas such as parks, golf courses, and sport fields -- locations where clippings collection is not feasible.

The basics of grasscycling are nearly identical to conventional lawn care: Water and fertilize in moderation, keep mower blades sharp, cut when the grass is dry, and never remove more than one third the length of the grass height at once. Because bagging is eliminated and nutrients are returned to the soil, both time and money can be saved.

These benefits for you are matched by even bigger benefits for society at large, as precious and costly landfill space is reserved for other forms of garbage that have no alternative or beneficial uses.

To make your grasscycling chores even easier, specialized "mulching" mowers are now available from most major manufacturers. These special mowers chop clippings into small pieces that can barely be seen and decompose quickly. For existing mowers, retrofit kits are often available from local dealers to convert a standard machines to a mulcher.

Because the landscaping industry is facing increasing pressure from local governments to meet California's aggressive waste reduction mandates, Dr. Ali Harivandi, a turfgrass specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension for the San Francisco Bay Area, promotes grasscycling. "Turf has often been blamed for many environmental concerns," Dr. Harivandi explains. "First it was the drought, then groundwater contamination from fertilizers, and even air and noise pollution from mowers! Now it's solid waste issues."

The California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) in Sacramento worked closely with Dr. Harivandi to develop a grasscycling brochure to educate homeowners and landscapers. The CIWMB and Dr. Harivandi have also worked with the landscaping industry to broaden acceptance of grasscycling. The California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA) has now officially endorsed grasscycling as a responsible turf management technique.

Recognizing that yard waste disposal bans have occurred in other states, the "green industry" in California is increasingly receptive to managing yard wastes in a more environmentally-sound manner.

The State of California has learned to "practice what it preaches" in its own front yard, too. The CIWMB established grasscycling demonstration sites at the State Capitol in cooperation with the Office of Building and Grounds of the Department of General Services. The grounds crew has been so pleased with the resulting time and money savings that they are converting their entire fleet to grasscycling mowers. [Mention if any local public agencies, including schools, are involved in grasscycling programs]

To obtain further information on the fine points of grasscycling, contact 1-800-CA-WASTE and ask for a grasscycling brochure.

Catch the composting craze

Goal: To provide basic information on composting and its benefits.

If you had a choice, which would you rather see grow -- your precious little garden or that expensive landfill on the edge of town?

Chances are the garden would win out. But once that choice has been made, you might want to get a few tips on how to turn yard clippings, fall leaves, or even vegetable or fruit scraps, into the marvelous substance of compost.

What exactly is composting, some of you may ask? Composting is the natural process of decomposing organic material, like leaves or grass clippings. Bacteria and insects consume this material leaving nutrient rich soil. Composting has been going on in forests since the beginning of time and can easily be done in your backyard. A major advantage of composting for any gardener is that the home-grown compost can be used instead of commercial fertilizers and mulches.

Composting techniques such as grasscycling, which refers to the practice of simply leaving lawn clippings on the lawn after mowing, can be integrated into a broad waste prevention campaign in your home or business. Though frequently thought of as nature's way of recycling, composting is really a waste prevention activity because it prevents so-called "green wastes" from becoming a waste in the first place.

And home composting is an easy, responsible way to keep millions of tons of organic materials each year from becoming a waste disposal burden. Despite common impressions, all of the "green" waste that is shipped to landfills never finds its way back to the soil because new liners designed to prevent toxic releases also limits oxygen to break down this organic material. Composting is, therefore, a way to "close the loop" right in your own backyard.

Many California communities now offer classes and guidebooks to help residents compost yard trimmings and kitchen scraps conveniently and safely. The California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) has produced videos for use by local governments to educate residents on various approaches to this environmentally friendly way to both reduce waste and produce soil product for yards and gardens.

To compost in your backyard, all you need is a little space (about a square yard) for an open pile or compost bin. Several composting bins are commercially available [mention if there is a local bin program and who to contact]. Composting can also be done in open piles, though bins are often preferable as they keep the material contained, hold moisture better, and offer resistance to rodents.

Those persistent Fall leaves can go into the compost pile along with grass clippings, bush trimmings, weeds, and other yard waste. Kitchen scraps (no meat or dairy) can also be added, but should be covered with the non-food material in the bin. The pile needs to be kept moist; in the Fall, the rain may do this for you, otherwise use a hose or gray water. If you take out a handful of material, squeeze it and a couple of drops come out, it's wet enough. About once a week, fluff the pile with a pitch fork to give it air. You can also turn the pile completely over by building it into another pile, or remove the bin and repile it into the bin (to do this you'll need a couple of square yards of space). In a couple of months you'll have compost for your yard.

Fall leaves can also be piled up by themselves either in a bin or covered pile and left to sit out the winter. In the spring, the leaf pile will have shrunk considerably and can be mixed with grass clippings and other yard and vegetable trimmings in a new compost pile or put on the soil directly as a mulch. Leaves can also be used as a mulch in the fall by raking them directly onto dirt areas where they will break down naturally by spring.

Businesses are also jumping into the compost pile. For example, the Pebble Beach Company of Monterey County is developing an ambitious yard trimmings composting program at their internationally renowned seaside resort. The company, responsible for managing five world class golf courses, must also manage 2,500 tons of assorted trimmings generated from those courses as well as 3,500 acres of forest land in the Del Monte Forest. A majority of the materials generated at the golf courses is grass clippings, while the trimmings from the Forest include dead trees and exotic plants removed while replanting the area with native plants and trees. Historically, these "wastes" were sent to a local landfill.

Then something marvelous happened. The company purchased $175,000 worth of equipment to process plant material into compost at their on-site maintenance yard. The purchase was economically feasible due in part to a 40% recycling investment tax credit program administered by CIWMB. By composting yard trimmings instead of sending them to the landfill, the company will save $65,000 per year in labor, transportation, and disposal costs. The compost produced will be used as a soil amendment for the forest replanting program, potentially saving over $20,000 per year which is currently spent on soil amendment purchases.

By using compost on the same area where it was originally generated, the composting program at Pebble Beach is simply a large, but excellent example of "closing the loop" at home.

Contact [insert local information] for more information.

A recipe for good compost

Goal: To provide readers more specific information on how to compost.

Composting is a means of using natural decomposing processes to turn kitchen and yard waste into a nutrient rich soil supplement for your yard or garden. It can be fun and rewarding to return organic matter to the land by creating soil. And, to top it off, composting helps your community to reduce the amount of "garbage" that needs to be processed by professional, and expensive, waste processors.

Look upon composting as a way of recycling organic matter. It stimulates natural cycles of decomposition and is an ecologically sensible way to use organic wastes. From the view of local governments, composting is a waste prevention strategy because the material never enters the waste stream. Whether trimmings from the bushes lining the house or scraps from the dinner plate, composting offers a convenient solution to particularly troublesome wastes.

If you have some yard space, about three square feet, and a little time, you can compost. Composting can be practiced using a home made or manufactured bin, or an open pile. Here are a four key recipe tips to make sure your compost ends up being a winner.

1. Green-brown mix: Wet or "green" materials such as fresh grass clippings and food wastes tend to be high in nitrogen. Dry or "brown" materials such as leaves and dried yard waste are high in carbon. Both of these materials are needed, in approximately an equal mix. Remember, these materials should be crumbled, shredded or chopped to be less than 12 inches in length to achieve good compost. Avoid putting meat and dairy products into the pile.

2. Moisture content: The compost pile should be kept damp, but not soggy. It should receive an occasional watering both on top and inside and be kept "moist as a wrung out sponge."

3. Air: The bacteria and fungus that help decompose the green and brown waste need air to survive. Therefore, compost piles should be turned once every week to two weeks. If you do not turn your pile regularly it will lack oxygen, become anaerobic, and begin to emit odors that are, generally speaking, not associated with fine cooking.

4. Size: The ideal size for a home composting pile is three square feet. This size allows the pile to heat up, killing weed seeds and speeding up the decomposition process. Hot compost piles can produce compost in less than a month while cool compost piles can take more than two months.

How will you know when the compost is done? Finished compost is uniform dark brown material that has an earthy aroma. Once the material in your compost bin has reached this state, the few larger chunks of wood or other material that remain can be added to a new pile to begin the decomposition process again.

These backyard composting principles can also be applied at apartments and businesses. However, because space is frequently a problem, you can compost using a smaller pile or you can compost using a worm bin. For more information on composting call [insert local information].

Xeriscaping

Goal: To provide readers with information on xeriscaping.

You may think that decisions about how to landscape your front yard, as well as that new garden in the back, should be nobody's concern but your own.

Well, actually, they are. But if you want to reduce your own maintenance chores and lessen the burden on California's waste management and water systems, you may want to consider xeriscaping, which is a low-water-requiring landscape practice.

Careful planning of landscaping at home -- or at the office -- represents a long-term investment that can have a profound effect not only on wastes heading for the landfill, but on precious, and scarce, resources such as irrigation water (not to mention your time.) Xeriscaping can reduce the amount of waste generated by growing plants, and can also reduce time devoted to weeding, pruning and watering necessary to maintaining a beautiful landscape.

The first step to developing a truly eco-friendly green landscape comes with purchasing decisions. You should look for landscaping supplies that are available without excess packaging. Buying in bulk is typically the best route to take. If you choose to use them, commercial garden supplies can be purchased in bulk quantities, reusable containers or water -soluble packages. Bulk packaging reduces the amount of waste per unit of product, and usually costs less. Xeriscaping, you might want to know, encourages the use of integrated pest management and therefore limits the need for traditional pesticides.

In the landscape industry, the reuse and recycling of plant containers can have a dramatic impact on the waste stream from landscape operations. Nurseries, for instance, may accept certain empty plastic flats, as well as plastic and wood plant containers, for reuse. Wood containers can be reused as decorative planters, cut up into stakes, or ground up for mulch. Plastic containers can also be reused or recycled into plastic lumber for landscaping timbers and other uses.

Perhaps the most important decision you have to make as a xeriscaper is what plants to plant. Remember, the less pruning required by plants, the better. Trees and shrubs that are native to California are often drought-tolerant and slow growing. As a general rule of thumb, these plants will produce less waste (and require less water). These plants are typically deep rooted and often have leaves specially adapted to reduce transpiration rates (thick cuticles, hairy leaves and stems, fewer stomata).

Most successful unirrigated landscapes utilize the moister climates of coastal or mountain areas. This is where most California native landscaping plants come from. Planting these plants in interior valleys, or in the desert, can prove to be difficult. For lists of what native plants work well in your particular vicinity, contact your local Master Gardeners, a group of experts associated with the Cooperative Agricultural Extension programs of the University of California and other land grant colleges. (There are master gardener programs in almost every county in the state.)

To ensure that your California native plants prosper, keep the nearby soil free of competing plants and mulch with composted wood chips, pine needles, fine gravel or even recycled chunks of asphalt. Mulching provides ideal, moist conditions for healthy micro-organism and macro-organism populations.

Also improve your soil -- including lowering its pH. Plan for shading (which reduces water needs) and plant just before of after the rainy season. Don't forget that there are soil enhancement products that contain up to 100 percent recycled organic material content. The use of compost elevates soil structure, texture and aeration. It also improves moisture regulation and provides slow-release nutrients that feed plants on a constant basis, in contrast to synthetic fertilizers that cause spurts of growth, often increasing the need for pruning, trimming and mowing.

When purchasing mulches and composts as top dressings or soil amendments, always consider products with the highest recycled content.

To maximize waste reduction opportunities, choose plants that fit the available space in order to minimize pruning needs. Always consider the mature size of the plant before making decisions on location. The use of both winter and summer perennials can give year-round color without the cost and waste of replacing annual plants. Installation of perennial ground covers that do not require replacement every year can be an attractive alternative to turf and result in a reduction of green waste.

Beyond careful choosing and proper maintenance of plants, the design and operation of irrigation systems can also help reduce unnecessary excess growth, maintenance requirements and subsequent waste. For example, use of drip irrigation places water next to the plant, enhancing plant health, as well as minimizing weed growth. Less weed growth saves labor costs (and time) and decreases the amount of organic matter in the waste stream.

Other techniques that can be employed as agents of waste prevention include landscape edging, which helps separate one spreading or invasive plant from another. Often these edging materials, whether they be aluminum, steel, wood or other material, have recycled content.

After such purchasing decisions, the biggest factor in pursuing superior xeriscaping is ongoing maintenance. Proper monitoring and maintenance of irrigation systems can help keep turf and plant growth to a manageable level. This translates into less trimming and pruning, and less waste. Techniques such as "grasscycling" -- a fancy word for the practice of leaving clippings on your properly cared for lawn after mowing -- make the best use of available nutrients for the soil.

Remember, whatever waste is generated by your various plant endeavors can be usually be composted or mulched.

Though the practice of xeriscaping was initiated primarily because of concerns over scarce water supplies, it is now being viewed in the broader context of sustainability. Beyond the implications for waste reduction are impacts on reducing energy use. Planting deciduous trees can reduce air conditioner needs in the summer by providing shade to your house, and they can reduce heating needs in the winter by letting the sun through.

The variety of benefits provided by xeriscaping demonstrates how waste prevention activities dovetail with other important public policy and your individual goals.

For more information, contact the California Waste Prevention Information Exchange at (916) 341-6363.

Worm bins

Goal: To encourage readers to try vermicomposting.

Worms have never received much credit for the wonderful work they do. While gardeners have always had deep respect for these creatures, and their ability to keep soil healthy, waste managers now also gaze fondly upon worms.

Green waste, in all of its varied forms -- leaves, lawn clippings, weeds, vegetable food scraps -- is one of the state's most troublesome waste streams. Indeed, some counties will focus almost exclusively on green wastes over the next few years because they have done nearly all they can do to reduce other waste streams. If California's cities and counties are to reach the goal of diverting 50 percent of California's solid waste away from landfills by the turn of the century, then worms will likely need to play a supporting role.

The practice of making compost can be a very labor intensive one. Typically, commercial composting centers are subsidized, often by privately-owned power plant operators who burn wood waste as fuel. Many of these "biomass" electricity generating facilities are closing, threatening much of California's commercial composting industry. These closures are dismantling an infrastructure that will have to be replaced by more on-site, and sometimes unusual, composting activities.

Composting through the use of worms in your own backyard, or school, is a very simple way to turn garbage into a useful product that can help brighten up the flower beds and improve the food output of the vegetable garden.

Worm composting, known as vermicomposting, can easily be integrated into your daily routine. (It is a waste prevention technique because the waste never leaves the premises.) First, you need a worm bin. Most are constructed out of redwood or plywood, but most any scrap wood will do. All you have to do is create a square box or use a store-bought plastic storage box. The bins can be as large as you want them. Some schools have built giant worm homes, as large as 32 square feet! Backyard bins, generally speaking, will be much smaller.

After each meal, separate nonprotein items, such as meat scraps or dairy remnants, from the rest of what's left on your plate. (If you leave this stuff in the mix, odors can get quite unpleasant.) Worms, after all, love fruit and vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, tea bags, crushed egg shells, bread and rice. Add this mixture to a shredded paper bag or newspaper bedding in the bin. You've started a worm farm.

About once a week, bury the food scraps in the bedding to discourage mold and fruit flies. Another good idea is to bury the worm food in a different corner of the box at each feeding. If the food is not gone the next time you take a peek into the bin, try feeding the worms a little less for a while.

After a few months the original bedding will have disappeared. Instead, you will notice a rich, dark worm compost. That means it's time to put the worms on a diet. Start feeding them only on one side of the bin for a few weeks, so you can scoop up the super soil on the other. Once the super soil is removed, lay down some more bedding, and start the whole process over again.

Many schools now feature worm bins. At Sierra Elementary school in El Dorado County, for example, all food scraps are fed to red worms purchased with aluminum can recycling funds.

Whether at school or at home, relying on worms to develop compost is one of the easiest ways to help keep California clean. Feed them and then just sit back and let the squiggly critters do what they do best!

Tire reuse can be fun

Goal: To provide readers with information and ideas on tire reuse.

What should we do with the almost 30 million waste tires generated annually by Californians? The answer is simple: reuse them.

Reusing tires is an area where being an environmentally responsible citizen can be fun. Do you want a bird feeder, a swing or even a retaining wall in your yard? Tires are the answer.

Given the consequences associated with not reusing tires, more and more Californians are finding creative ways to reuse a resource that we all utilize. After all, each citizen disposes, on average, about one tire per year.

Though many think of tires as being black, dirty items, and possibly even toxic, when scrubbed and cleaned properly, tires pose no direct threat to soils or to you.

There are two different types of tires and each type is suited for different reuses. Most new tires are steel-belted radials, which are better for basic planters, super intensive gardening structures and retaining walls. Bias-ply tires, on the other hand, do not have steel belts and are essential for projects that require cutting through the tread. These tires are great for projects like bird feeders, lawn and gardening edging, stepping stone forms or swings. You can find bias tires in vacant lots and junk yards, as well as old tire stockpiles.

Of the 29 million tires generated last year, about 18 million were reused, retreaded, recycled or combusted. Those numbers translate to a 62-percent diversion away from the state's crowded landfills. Since 1990, when a law establishing the state's tire reuse program went into effect, the state has increased its rate of recycling and other uses by 28 percent.

These numbers may sound impressive, but tires are among the California Integrated Waste Management Board's (CIWMB) top concerns because of fire and disease hazards associated with stockpiled tires. The CIWMB, therefore, provides grant funding through a competitive program established by the CIWMB every year to find new uses for tires. Past recipients have been individuals, small businesses and nonprofit groups.

Try to take responsibility for your own tires. Here's one quick example of how to use tires to reduce green wastes, another problematic portion of California's diverse waste stream.

Tires can make excellent composters. Get eight firm tires, all the same size. Four will be used for actual composting, the other four for storage. The larger the tire, the more compost they will hold.

Make the center hole of both sides of the tire wider, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border of tire. (Any sabre, jig or reciprocating saw that will accept a universal 1/4-inch shank blade will work; an orbital jigsaw works best.) Be careful when working with tires as balance weights on many tires are made of lead, and these are toxic, so they need to be removed, and worn steel-belted radials have sharp wires that could injure you.

Choose an area convenient to water, near your garden, and preferably in the sun. Make two stacks of four tires each. When you want to mix and aerate, pull the top tire filled with compost toward you, dumping contents on the ground. Then place this first unit in the new location. Fork the contents into the first unit. Then, pull the second unit off and dump its contents. Continue this sequence until all units are moved to the new location.

If you want to know how to make birdfeeders, swings, retaining walls and other items you can pick up a copy of the book "Tire Recycling is Fun," written and illustrated by Paul Farber. The book can be obtained by writing to the author at the following address: Re-Tiring, Box 505, Roy, Utah 84067.

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Last updated: April 21, 2008