[E-updates] Come and Get It! Compost Giveaway Scheduled this Fall

[Lisa Patterson]

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:			City of Lawrence, Kansas
							Waste Reduction
and Recycling Division
							November 6, 2002

CONTACT:						Mollie
Mangerich, Operations Supervisor
							832-3030


Come and Get It!  Compost giveaway scheduled this fall

(Lawrence, Kansas) - The City of Lawrence Solid Waste Division has
scheduled its Annual Compost Giveaway for Nov. 13 to 16, from 8:00 a.m.
to 1:00 p.m. at the City's Compost Facility, 901 E 8th Street, on the
south side of East 8th Street before the wastewater treatment plant.
There is no charge for the compost and citizens may either load their
own material or have it loaded by tractor for pickup-size loads.

Lawrence's Compost Ingredients
Lawrence compost is made from the weekly collection of residential =
grass
clippings and leaf waste.  The materials are collected curbside from
Lawrence households on each Monday during the growing season and =
trucked
over to the City's compost facility.    Once delivered to the compost
facility, the organic materials are emptied from the trucks and loaded
into a large tub grinder, which chops the materials into small pieces
and places the feedstock into large rows where it is turned
intermittently to achieve the optimum conditions for decomposition of
the raw materials.

The Composting Process
The compost mixture is two-thirds leaves to 1 part grass clippings by
volume.  Because of seasonal variations, leaves are stockpiled over the
winter in order to add to the following season's bounty of grass
clippings.  Basically a mixture of nitrogen (grass) and carbon =
(leaves),
the materials undergo a biological decomposition under controlled
conditions.  In order to produce useful compost, the microbial
controlled process must be aerobic and thus oxygen is made readily
available for optimum decomposition.  By turning the piles
intermittently, heat loss and moisture content is regulated through
adjustment of pile composition and size.  Optimum temperatures for
destruction of weed seed, pathogens and pesticides are (140 to 160=BA =
F.)
and this temperature is maintained for about three months until such
time the pile naturally cools and enters a state of "curing," or =
compost
maturity.

Benefits of Compost
Compost is an ideal mulch, potting soil, or top dressing for a =
flowerbed
or vegetable garden.  Organic compost loosens soil for better root
penetration, improves soil capacity to hold water, and adds essential
nutrients to the soil.

-END-



_____________________________
Lisa K. Patterson
Communications Coordinator
City of Lawrence
PO Box 708
Lawrence, KS 66044
(785) 832-3406
fax (785) 832-3405
lpatterson@ci.lawrence.ks.us
http://www.lawrenceks.org