Recap: MCR Munch & Mulch (June, 2018)

20 MCRs enjoyed a sunny, spring morning at Compost 'S cool, last Saturday. In good company, we learned, we chatted, we discussed, and we played in the dirt.

5 Ways to Deal with Grass, Leaves, and Plants... But Not "Compost"

• Mad Science: bokashi, extracts, teas & brews
• A Sensus of Humus: how to make leaf mold
• Interment: burial, trenching & double digging
• The Green, Green, Grass of Home: going bagless (grasscycling)
• Litter Bugs: chop & drop, deadheading, mulching & lasagna gardening

The group broke into four teams. Each team toured all four stations to learn about the topics above. At each station, one person from the team led a chat about the station.

Special thanks to MCR Deb P. She hosted the Mad Science station and taught us about bokashi. She even sent folks off with samples of EM (effective micro-organisms) to try their own bokashi compost.

The day ended with a fun game of Compost 'S cool charades.

Congrats to all those MCRs who were recognized for reaching milestones and long service. You rock!

We look forward to seeing everyone at the MCR Tree Planting, in July.

Stay in Touch: 5 Easy Ways to Record

• Click here record volunteering
• Visit MyVolunteerPage.com
• Email mcrp@edmonton.ca
• Phone 780-496-5991
• Text 780-668-0217

   

Dishing the Dirt on Compost Week 2018

Did you know that composting at home is a great way to reduce waste and improve lawns, gardens, and flowerbeds? Nutrient-rich compost builds soil and promotes healthy plant growth.

International Compost Awareness Week, May 6 to 12, is the perfect time to wake up your compost after a long winter or to start composting for the first time. The City offers the following to help residents learn about home composting:

• Learn the basics in one of our two-hour workshops, just $10 for the whole family, at Compost 'S cool, located near John Janzen Nature Centre. To register for workshops, visit edmonton.ca/eReg or call 311.
• Join us live on the City Facebook page Thursday, May 10 at 12:30 p.m. as we ask our resident compost expert about tips and tricks for starting and maintaining a healthy compost. Viewers are encouraged to ask questions in real time.
• Meet staff and volunteers for a Compost Coffee Break on Saturday, May 12, at Mandolin Books & Coffee Co. (6419 112 Avenue). Chat about home composting, ask questions, relax and enjoy a discounted coffee.
• Ask the Compost Doctor! Call 780-496-5526 or email compost@edmonton.ca with your basic or advanced compost questions.
• Follow @CompostScool on Facebook for pointers, tips, and news about special events. You can also subscribe to Keep Composting, a e-newsletter for composting tips and answers to frequently asked questions.

Visit edmonton.ca/compost for more information.

---

     

Composting Toilet Harvest 2015

What's your favourite way to spend a Sunday morning?

If you answered "muck around with a composting toilet," you might just be an MCR!

What does a toilet compost?
Yes. Exactly what you think.

Our compost gurus, Mark and Sheridan, led the charge of harvesting finished compost from the Composting Toilet at the Compost 'S cool. This gem is tucked away in the river valley, at the

John Janzen Nature Centre. 

The toilet was last harvested in summer 2013, and Mark has been patiently tending the new "crop" these past two years. Waste that gets flushed is combined with wood chips and is turned regularly, just like a regular compost bin.

Mark and Sheridan were joined by 4 enthusiastic MCRs, who were eager to see the finished product, and learn about how to use this compost, sometimes called 'humanure'.

Theoretically, the temperature in this system can get high enough to kill pathogens like E.coli, but for safety reasons, you should never use untested humanure to grow food crops. You should also avoid putting it where children play.

If you want to try it at home, we can help with the how-to's and the health & safety information.
Email compost@edmonton.ca

Compost from the Composting Toilet makes an excellent soil amendment for ornamental garden beds! It's full of valuable nutrients that our bodies can't process.
Our perennials have been going strong since the last harvest.

Our intrepid MCRs suited up with sturdy gloves and dug the compost in around the prickly rosebushes and juniper plants. This compost always gets dug in doubly deep. It's safer that way, plus it's right where the roots can take in all of those nutrients.

Special thanks to our MCR helpers: Alena M., Harvey G., Erika D., and Rosemary F.! 

The Great Toilet Harvest of 2013

Our Composting Toilet opened for business in 2007, at the John Janzen Nature Centre. The toilet shows that we can compost even that stuff.

Visitors to John Janzen Nature Centre and the Compost Education Centre have been peacefully contributing ever since. On August 24th, seven compost fanatics met to harvest the Composting Toilet for the very first time.

Megan & Andrew getting composty

How it works

Wood chips get mixed with the "fresh compostables" - liquids and solids - in the toilet. Micro-organisms thrive on both types of nitrogen- and carbon-rich materials to break down the waste. Then the whole batch is gets stirred, regularly, to introduce new waste for the organisms.

We have been surprised by the Composting Toilet. Most of all, it's taken almost six years to have enough finished compost.

Adding the finished compost

Site when we were done

Harvesting the finished product

First, we dug a trench near our perennial plants - away from food crops. Next, we dug the trench again. This makes a trench that is doubly-deep.

Then we harvested finished compost and mixed it into the trench, along with some soil. Finally, we topped the trench with the layers of soil.

When finished, the compost amends the soil and encourages roots to develop deep. We made sure to keep this humanure compost away from food crops and away from contact with visitors.

Special thanks to those MCRs who helped with harvesting: Maureane D., Mary-Jo G., Hannah H., Andrew J. and Megan M. Our tireless organizer was Ella W., our compost educator extrordinaire (and summer staff).

Most of all, thanks to Mark S.
He has tended the Composting Toilet for more than 5 years. He is the first one to stir the "compostables" in spring. He preps the "catchment" at the end of fall. And he replenishes the wood chips and air fresheners in the dead of winter. Thank you, Mark.

More Info

• Pit Stops: John Janzen Nature Centre CT (The Dusty Musette)
• Rustic outhouse woes? Try waterless composting toilet (National Post)

A Peek Inside the 2013 MCR Summer Social

We spent Sunday with the sun,
the showers,
and fellow
Master Composter Recyclers.

Rodney took time to thank everyone that attended. He stressed that every conversation started around waste is a valuable way to contribute. It is a way to reach people who may not think about collectors when they set our their garbage, or understand how important it is to leave grass clippings on the lawn. Rodney also discussed feedback we've received about changing the name of the Master Composter Recycler program.

Some civilized folks chatting until the end of the day...


and then we let loose.

We had some young visitors.

Thanks to Heather S and Yoshie N for their hard work on the grill. The Bring-Your-Own-Salad bar was a colourful mix of beans, greens, reds, and yellows. Thanks to everyone who contributed from their garden and fridge. We would have gone home hungry without you.

We took a few photos for our website and brochures. Thanks to the photographer (Marlee U), artistic director (Mark SA), and subjects (Colleen, Chris, Kaitlyn, Kristin, Robyn, and more).

Future composters explore an Earth Machine compost bin. 

Colleen and Chris can teach you how to turn garbage into compost! 

Showing us how to use compost in planters. 

Thinking about our waste...

Heather and Ella sitting with the garbage from the Summer Social (both from planning the event and at the event itself). We always make an effort to reduce our waste but let's do even better next time! 

All in all it was a beautiful day. 

Thank you to everyone who join us (and all those who were with us in spirit).

Watch for the Volunteer Recognition Event on October 2!

Pit Stops: John Janzen Nature Centre CT

Reblogged from The Dusty Musette

Tucked away in a western cranny of Edmonton’s river valley, between Fort Edmonton Park and the John Janzen Nature Centre, stands a marvel of elegant, simple, sanitary-engineering  design. It’s a composting toilet (CT), made by Advanced Composting Systems of Whitefish, Montana, and it’s situated in a small raised structure next to a cycling path. The staff of the Nature Centre look after it, and they keep it remarkably clean and well stocked; I’ve used it many times and never been caught wanting for supplies. Sometimes there’s even actual Purell in the hand-cleaner dispenser.

My guess is that the Nature Centre folks see the CT as a kind of environmental PR project, promoting the possibilities of composting. (There is, in fact, a Compost Education Centre at the Nature Centre across the trail). So I suspect there’s a kind of pride factor that helps explain the pristine condition of this craphouse. A sign inside explains how the toilet works—making vague reference to mysterious “organisms” that live down below and go to town on the unsavoury deposits in such a way that renders said deposits benign, odorless, heck, even beneficial. The sign refers to the end-product as “a rich, well-stablilized mulch.” And here’s the amazing thing: the place is completely odorless. A quick glance down the hole would make you think that’s impossible, but I’m here to testify that the place absolutely does not smell in any way toilet-y. Actually, it smells kind of peaty, in a subtle, earthy way, like a fine single malt Scotch.

Read more