Composting helps sustain local soil, cut down on landfill volume

To some it may look like a pile of dirt; to others it's a way to sustain agriculture and nurture the land.

The popularity of composting is catching on, giving growers a way to keep operations affordable and sustainable, and potentially helping the borough save on landfill costs.

Composting is the process of breaking down organic materials to be used in growing plants, providing needed nutrients and saving on irrigation. Composting runs hot and cold, literally. Passive or anaerobic composting, also called cold composting, takes longer to break down materials. Active or aerobic composting, also called hot composting, is much quicker, but requires more work on the part of the person managing it.

Both styles are used in Wrangell.

At the community garden, located just south of Heritage Harbor behind the cemetery, a cold compost box is set up. People can bring their organic waste - called "greens" - such as banana peels, uneaten fruits and vegetables and coffee grounds, and add them to the existing pile. After that, a small layer of "browns" - dead leaves, straw, cardboard, newspapers, for example - are added.

Kim Wickman, IGAP technician with the Wrangell Cooperative Association, said the community garden compost effort came out of a 2019 study.

"We went through and worked with 10 different households. We collected their garbage for them, and we waited," she said. "At the end of this study, we discovered that 50% of Wrangell's solid waste is compostable."

According to Tom Wetor, the borough's public works director, Wrangell averages 1,500 to 2,000 tons of garbage shipped out each year. That doesn't include materials that are burned on site, metal shipped separately or hazardous household waste. The trash is barged to Seattle, then hauled by train to the Republic Services landfill in southcentral Washington. The shipping budget for trash this year is $270,000.

"If the community ... participated in more composting, it would certainly reduce our shipping cost," Wetor said. "The biggest challenge will be to get enough people to participate to make a difference."

Though separating out green and brown wastes can be time consuming, the practice does have benefits outside of potentially saving on landfill shipping costs.

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, composting reduces waste streams, cuts methane emissions from landfills, improves soil health and lessens erosion, conserves water, and reduces personal food waste.

At the community garden composting station, the process to break down organic materials takes anywhere from six months to a year, Wickman said.

"By doing [cold composting] we have kind of sidestepped the need for turning," she said. Turning compost piles is the one step that differentiates cold and hot composting. Regularly turning or mixing piles will increase the temperature (optimally between 130 and 140 degrees) and decompose materials within a few weeks or months.

"With these cold composting systems, we're not going to get that hot," Wickman said. "It takes a very long time to break down because it's basically using the natural systems that are already in place without us messing with it."

Anyone who is interested in contributing to the community garden can do so at any time of the day. Those would like a walkthrough of how to add their organic waste to the pile can contact Wickman at 874-4304, extension 104, or by email at igaptech.wca@gmail.com.

Oceanview Gardens at 6 Mile has several hot composting piles in various stages of decomposition. Dwane and Laura Ballou felt it was necessary to use compost since the land they're farming is comprised mostly of wood chips from the old sawmill and rock. The compost soil they're making will help crops to take root, use less water, and be fed with more nutrients. The aerobic method also increases the likelihood that pathogens, weed seeds and bug larvae are destroyed.

"In Maine, they'll actually do whole horses and cattle," said Dwane Ballou. "Say a horse dies ... they open their compost piles up and lay the animal in there, and in three weeks the only thing left is, like, the femurs."

The Ballous use a mix of crab shells, sawdust, plant trimmings and other garden waste for their composting. "I did a trial with a halibut carcass in July. I put it in the pile, covered it with sawdust, a week later it was gone," Dwane Ballou said.

No matter which method is used, only four ingredients are needed to compost: nitrogen (the greens), carbon (the browns), oxygen and water. Nitrogen helps to produce the decomposers (microorganisms), carbon feeds the decomposers, and water and oxygen ensure the decomposers survive.

Whatever kind of container is used should have proper drainage so the compost piles don't get too wet, Wickman said, as the mass should only be as damp as a wrung-out sponge. Too much water and complex nutrients can be washed away.

Compost bins can be made out of almost anything, Wickman said. Items such as fencing can be used as long as the material can be contained. Most importantly, there should be a lid to control the amount of moisture that is getting into the compost. And, in Wrangell, the container will help to keep out birds and bears.

"Our system is a beautiful mess," she said.