My worry about city compost programs

I was so excited when my hubby told me we could go out to the area where the city makes the compost from everybodies leaves that are picked up on the curbs..he works for the cty so he have access all year round....all of a sudden I started to think about what is being put in those bags when picked up..dog waste included...should I be concerned?.....I know when we had a dog I never used the leaves from the back yard since the dogwaste could be put in the bags by mistake...should I be concerned?...I sure would like to use all that free compost....Judy

Several years ago my town started collecting leaves in the fall in bio bags for composting and gave it away free to the public in the spring. A friend of mine with a dump truck got me 5 yards of the compost . While spreading it in my flower beds and garden, I filled up two 30 gallon trash cans with rocks, cans, plasctic bottles,bricks, diapers, you name it that I found in that pile of stuff. The rest of the summer I picked weeds of every discription from my beds where ever I had put that #$@$%%^^^ compost!! That was my experiance with my city's compost. Now I make my own. If you do try it, I would suggest you do a small area with it first, and if you have good luck, next year do more. Gil

Our water/sewage dept makes compost out of it's sludge. I have been told not to use it on veggies, but it sure is great for ornamentals and anything else. It is loaded with "heavy Metals" and Heaven knows what else from the sewage. It is black and smelly for a few days after it is spread. We used to be able to get a pick up truck load for $25 - but now you can only buy it in bags from a couple of local nurseries. It is still pretty cheap tho, about $2.00 for 4 cu ft. Now since I have my Compost Twin, I just make my own.

Our local compost place actually manages piles composed of a balanced mix, laced with chicken urea from the local Coop. (Monitored for temperature, turned mechanically, etc. The material they take are woodchips, tree trimmings, grass clippings, firewood, and of course, the fall leaves. The quality-controlled product (screened for plastic, etc) is $35/ cu. yard. The stuff is great.

Judy: If that bit of dog business is added to a well-managed compost project, it is not harmful, but a place where these materials are just dumped to sit and compost themselves would scare me. Perhaps a big enough wet pile would go anaerobic and no longer be a healthy amendment. And with all that trash, like Gil said.

Sewage is just plain unnatural for a bunch of reasons. Uf. Scary. Chemicals to boot...
I wouldn't ever use it. If it's smelly, It has to be unhealthy for the soil.

This is where homemade compost get its appeal, eh?

Now, Animal waste: Simply, avoid that of carnivors, you are more likely to contract pathogens from it, and it is not useful as far as amendment. Herbivorous waste: Get all you can get!

A Fresh Year's Wishes to you folks,
K. James, the "Silty Gent."

This is why I wont go and get the free stuff from the city compost piles..you just dont know what has gone into them....I will stick with my own piles and know what Im getting...
The cities who have thought to do this for people have good intentions but as with all programs, there usually is a hitch to them...Judy

If you happen to have any poultry producers in your area. You might try to contact them. These large Turkey and Chicken operation make a lot of compost. A few will sell it back to you. I just paid $30 for a yard (1200lbs )of Turkey and mash compost. The mash is really nothing more then ground up wood shaving,corn cobs and straw that they coat the floor with before they put the birds in the barn. The people I buy from own about 30 barns in Central Missouri. They turn out many many tons of compost every year.

The only problem we have with the compost from the city here ( it's free) is a few clay clods, stones and sticks. Not very many just enough to be noticed. I've been using it for three years now and haven't come across enough trash to fill a wheelbarrow. And did I say it's free?

My city gives away free compost, and I was going to try it last year, but didn't have a way to transport it. I too was concerned about what might be in it.

However, last year I did buy 16 cubic yards of a compost/topsoil mix from a very reputable, well-established farm, and I was appalled at what I found in it! It was my first-ever bought batch of compost, so maybe I was naive, but for the money and from this place, I just wasn't expecting it. It looked like someone dumped their bathroom garbage in it, not to mention the tons of rocks in it. When I called the farm, they told me they take bagged leaves from municipalities, and in addition, had had a problem with their sifter, and offered to come over and have a few guys go through it, but I didn't take them up on it.

So, after that, I figure I'll give the free stuff a try. Can't be much worse than the expensive stuff I bought.

:)
Dee

Sorry about the multi-posts below! I kept getting an error message and thought the post did not go through. Guess I was wrong! Sorry!

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Well, that is very... ick.

Yeah, DG is a little slow on the post uptake these days. Not sure why...

We have always used our city compost and have had very good luck with it so far. The first year we went to get some, we just filled up the back of the truck and brought it home. There were some undesireable things in there,,,not anything gross, just some plastic, small pices of metal, strings and some glass,,,, so now, we take a sifter with and sift it before it goes in the truck.

Kelly

Composting is a science. Not all cities are willing to put time and energy into learning how to do it correctly. Especially since it may not be profitable for them. However the space saved by not putting it in a landfill is definitely something to motivate them since the cost of landfill space with the new regulations can be prohibitive.

Last weekend I got to tour a composting facility for a city of 250,000. It was impressive how quickly large piles could be made. Summertime must be wild when all those lawn clippings come in.

If we do not use the city compost or the wastewater sludge it will end up in a landfill. We need to promote the use of the end products of recycling rather than diss them.

If your city is putting out unscreened compost, you could hire someone one to screen it for you....it would still be cheaper than expensive compost....

If your city is putting out unfinished compost, you could take some and finish it yourself before you use it . Or you could volunteer your composting expertise to work with your city to help develop a routine that makes finished compost and perhaps help the city be able to charge a small fee for higher quality product.

Wastewater sludge that is "loaded with heavy metals" is not available for distribution to the public; it is landfilled per EPA regulations.

Wastewater sludge that is available to the public is very clean although it can have "trace" amounts of heavy metals, it would not be harmful to ornamentals...and probably wise to keep off of root based vegetables like carrots, onions, taters etc.

There is nothing wrong with properly composting the waste of carnivores.

Continuing to propogate misinformation will lead to wasted landfill space.

jpw,

Aside from the junk that some people mix in with yard waste, what is your opinion of leaves and grass and other clippings as far as any chemical residue on them are concerned in municipal "composting"?

The chemical residues will probably be non-existent. Most is washed into the soil or passed through surface water while still on the lawn before it ever makes it to the compost process. And any chems that are left would be broken down and considerably diluted during the composting process such that any concentration left would be so miniscule that it would pose no great harm.

The benefits of the reuse of the organic matter is greater than the potential risk of undecomposed chemistry at low concentrations.

I would concur that a city compost is not going to be as clean as a homemade organic pile. But it depends upon how organic are you at home? I cannot always buy organic produce. But I still put non-organic produce peelings into my home pile. I toss floor sweepings and vacuum bag residue into my pile.? How many chemicals are in that?

I put dog poo in my pile.

We are exposed to so many things just by breathing, I think what is left over in other people's yard waste falls fairly low on my radar.

joepye, you bring up a good point about encouraging cities to continue composting by using the compost they make. Certainly, your're right - if no one uses it, they may just give up. As I mentioned above, l have every intention of giving my city's compost a try this year. Couldn't get the proper transportation in time last year, but this year I'll plan more carefully.

:)
Dee