The goal of the Adirondack Compost for Good project is to help Adirondack communities turn food and other organic “wastes” into high quality compost. This process keeps nutrients in the community and out of our waterways, building local resilience, healing soils, and reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.
If global food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Currently, community-level composting options are limited in the Adirondack region, but a new project is changing that. The goal of the Adirondack Compost for Good project is to help our communities turn food and other organic “wastes” into high quality compost. This process keeps nutrients in the community, which builds local resilience, heals soils, reduces water pollution, and helps reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
At the heart of Adirondack Compost for Good is a team of individuals who are passionate about composting: John Culpepper, Katie Culpepper, and Jennifer Perry. AdkAction has brought this team under our wing to make organic waste composting more commonplace throughout the region.
Compost for Good is working to divert more of the resources so often landfilled and using them to do good work within our communities. There is a growing need for effective, adaptable, and affordable community composting systems that can process unsorted food waste—including meat and dairy—and other organic materials. The large-scale composter designed by Compost for Good fits that need, and is up to the challenge. The first of these composters has been in continuous operation for over four years, and four others have been in operation for eight months or more. The open-source design guide and operator manual for the composter are freely available to all.
We believe that community composting is an important part of building a more resilient world. By keeping food waste local, we keep resources local, which allows us to more directly support our land, our watersheds, and our neighbors.
Does your organization, institution, or business need assistance with your community scale composting goals? Compost for Good provides consultation for community-scale composting projects. Consultation is available at no charge via phone, zoom, or in-person if you are located in NY’s North Country through a variety of grants and fundraising. For entities located outside the North Country, there is a fee for consulting services. Learn more about the services available, and fee structure where applicable:
How big is the drum? Current design is 4-foot diameter, 20-foot long. The composters are designed to fit inside of a 40-foot shipping container, allowing them to be placed in a parking lot or otherwise close to where food waste is generated. The composter can also be housed in an existing structure.
What goes in? Unsorted food waste including meat and dairy, other organics, and a carbon bulking material (e.g.: wood chips, sawdust, wood shavings, etc.).
How much waste can one composter process? This composter was sized to process about 35,000 pounds of unsorted food waste per year. This is roughly the amount of waste that a community of 250 generates through the course of a year. (Under certain conditions, the composter can accommodate up to 50,000 pounds of food waste per year.)
How long does it take to turn waste into a resource? Though it depends on the materials and other conditions, this process can happen in just a few weeks’ time.
How can I get the free design guide and operating manual? The design for this composter, operating manual and supporting documents are free and available to anyone who is interested. It is a relatively simple design and we hope through collaboration with other communities and organizations we can continue to adapt the design to meet a variety of needs all across the Adirondacks and beyond.
How much does this composter cost? We have designed this composter to be simple, with material costs of $15,000, with hope of finding ways to reduce the cost even more. The labor cost will vary whether an individual does the construction or whether the labor is hired out.
What kind of support does this project offer? We want more communities to have access to what we have learned through years of experimentation, as well as the technical support, educational tools and essential information that is needed to make composting more effective and community efforts more successful. Whether through setting up site visits to observe a composter in action, a phone call to discuss viability of this design for a specific area, or assistance to find funding, we want to support Adirondack composting efforts. We can also put you in touch with others in our region who can build the composter and deliver it to you.
Why “Compost for Good”? It is our hope that this initiative will provide individuals with business opportunities, and organizations and communities with better waste management solutions leading towards a more regenerative Adirondack food system and more resilient communities.
Together, we can compost for good!
This document outlines how the Compost for Good team designed and built a commercial-scale, rotating drum composter, capable of processing all of the unsorted food waste. This composter was built for approximately $15,000 in material cost. Similar-sized composters purchased on the open market range anywhere from $40,000 to $150,000. Our hope is that this document provides enough detail so that others may build their own composter, save money, keep food waste out of landfills, and generate a valuable product for use or sale. We are quite sure that further modifications can be made to reduce the material and labor costs involved in construction.
This operating manual includes general composting instruction and guidelines interspersed with specific details from experience operating our drum composter since early 2017. The manual is intended to be supplemented by in-person and phone consultation, educational videos and a site visit to an existing operational system. Contact the author if on-site training is desired. A design document, educational videos, and lesson plans are posted on our website and a list of additional resources can be found in section VIII; the user is encouraged to reference them. The design for the high flow in-vessel drum composter was born from a desire to find the most affordable and efficient way to compost mixed food waste, in a way that produces high quality soil amendments on an institutional scale.
NYS Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling LawEffective January 1, 2022, NYS has taken a stand to make the most of our food by mandating large generators of food scraps to redirect wholesome edible food to those in need and food scraps to organics recycling facilities where they will be recycled into a product beneficial to our environment.
Who will be impacted by the law? Large generators of food scraps (more than 2 tons of wasted food and food scraps per week on average) Examples: Restaurants, grocery stores, hotels & motels, colleges & universities, malls, event centers, etc. View a complete list of Designated Food Scrap Generators that will need to comply with the donation requirements or both the donation and recycling requirements under the law.
Download the DEC factsheet here.
View DEC’s Guidance for New York State Businesses
Stay up to date on the latest information: sign up to receive NYS Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling law announcements from NYS DEC.
In January 2021, AdkAction and Compost for Good hosted an event to help municipal officials and community advocates understand the new law, and to introduce various options for composting. Representatives from NYS DEC joined us to discuss the new law as well as the Climate Smart Communities program. View a recording of the event here and view the presentation slides here.
Food Waste Reduction and Diversion Reimbursement Program
The Food Waste Reduction and Diversion Reimbursement Program is an innovative partnership between New York State and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) focused on incentivizing the reduction of food waste in the state. The program provides reimbursement to New York State businesses or not-for-profits that generate, haul or recycle large amounts of food waste to offset the cost of select technologies and equipment that promise to reduce or divert that food waste from landfill or incineration. Applications for grant funding are now being accepted. Please note that this is a rolling application.
USDA Cooperative Agreements for Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has made available up to $2 million for local governments to host Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction (CCFWR) pilot projects for fiscal year 2021. The cooperative agreements support projects that develop and test strategies for planning and implementing municipal compost plans and food waste reduction plans and they are part of USDA’s broader efforts to support urban agriculture.
Applications must be submitted by July 16, 2021. Projects should span two years with a start date of September 25, 2021 and completion date of September 25, 2023. Learn more and apply here.
Climate Smart Communities
The Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Grant program provides 50/50 matching grants to cities, towns, villages, and counties of the State of New York and boroughs of New York City for eligible climate change mitigation, adaptation, and planning and assessment projects.
Applications must be submitted by 4:00 p.m. on July 30, 2021. Learn more on the NYS DEC site and apply on the Consolidated Funding Application site.
Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production
Up to $4 million for grants to support the development of urban agriculture and innovative production projects. USDA’s Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (Office) is accepting proposals for planning and innovation projects, and these grants are part of USDA’s broader efforts to support urban agriculture.
Applications must be submitted by July 30, 2021. Learn more and apply here.
What does New York’s North Country Need to build a thriving community-composting culture? In two Compost Town Hall sessions the Compost for Good Team discusses with the community ways to promote and support the development of business opportunities related to upcycling organics.
Learn about Reclaiming Urine as a Resource in these presentations by the Compost for Good team at the Rich Earth Institute’s Virtual Summit.
NY Food Scraps Recycling Law: is your community ready? AdkAction and Compost for Good hosted an event to help municipal officials and community advocates understand the new law, and to introduce various options for composting. Representatives from NYS DEC joined us to discuss the new law as well as the Climate Smart Communities program.
Learn about Compost for Good’s drum composter design in this session at the Vermont Organics Recycling Summit.
Learn about the profound role that composting can play in decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in this presentation from NCAT’s Soil Health Innovations Conference.
Do you want to start composting, but you are not sure where to start? Have you already started composting but you are running into issues? Use the decision tree below to get advice on how to take the next step in your composting journey. If you do not find the answers you are looking for here, you are welcome to email compost@adkaction.org to ask more specific composting questions. Enjoy!
In our first series of Compost Cafés –a friendly open forum for discussing questions related to composting at any scale–Compost for Good co-founders John Culpepper and Katie Culpepper shared information and answered questions from novice and experienced composters in the Adirondacks and further afield.
View recordings of Compost Café sessions here:
Connect with the Compost for Good team on our Facebook page and share your composting knowledge and questions on our Compost for Good Facebook Group.
Keep food waste out of landfills and rebuild healthy soils by making a gift to our Compost for Good project fund.
The Compost for Good team is committed to working with communities across the Adirondacks to help make drum composting facilities available. Consulting and advice is available outside of the region as well.
The Compost for Good project team has a unique opportunity for manufacturers for a community-scale composter in the North Country. Learn more and access the
AdkAction’s Compost for Good project is seeking businesses and individuals interested in organics recycling opportunities. By John Culpepper, Compost for Good If you have considered
Compost for Good has composted every type of food waste, animal mortalities, and human urine. Are human remains the next frontier in organics upcycling? John
Food from small-scale family farms is often more expensive than food at chain grocery stores, putting it out of reach for many Adirondack families. It is also more sustainable, ethical, and better for our local economy. We are working towards a future in which Adirondack farmers can feed the region and local families can afford to buy local food by providing a 30% discount on farm fresh products for qualifying families.
Road Salt pollution is threatening Adirondack waters. Studies now show that Adirondack lakes and streams near roads are contaminated and drinking water wells are becoming contaminated at an alarming rate.
The Land Bank Project’s goal is to address the affordable housing shortage for low and middle income families in the Adirondacks by taking a lead role in catalyzing the development of a regional land bank.