Donating compost?

**acidcookie** · 03-18-2007, 12:28 PM

I have what may be an odd question. Is there some sort of organization or site or something where you can set up a way to donate compost to someone with a garden or an organization that uses it?

I hate throwing away things like banana peels, apple cores, coffee grounds, etc. knowing that they are nutritious foods for plants. But I live in an apartment and don't have a garden, or even a yard, so I have no use for it.

Ideally I am thinking of some sort of organization where I could keep these things and then leave them at my front door or something every week for someone with a use for it to pick up.

Does anything like this exist?

**lullaby80** · 03-18-2007, 03:41 PM

Did you try putting an ad on Craigslist?

I agree, it feels terrible throwing those hthings out.. I'll try to work on getting a compost here this summer.

**AheeK** · 03-18-2007, 05:42 PM

The easiest would be to befriend a neighbor that has a garden. Is there anyone nearby that has a garden in their backyard? Or even better, check into local garden clubs. My town has a public compost pile where everyone in town can take their kitchen waste, grass clippings, tree prunings, etc. Another alternative would be to save your kitchen waste and then go for a walk and deposit little bits here and there around nearby trees in parks, along roads or in greenspaces. Dig a hole, dump some in, and no one's the wiser. It'll break down and give the tree some nutrients. Too make it less conspicuous, you can blend it up in the blender into a slurry, which has the added benefit of releasing the nutrients very quickly into the soil.

The only thing I'm not sure about is littering bylaws in your area. You might want to check and see if compostables are considered litter.

**acidcookie** · 03-18-2007, 05:56 PM

There are woods behind my back deck so sometimes I do chuck stuff out there.

I live in the collegiest of college towns so nearly everyone around me lives in apartments and they're all students so no immediate neighbors with gardens.

A public compost sounds like a great idea! I'll see if anything like that exists here. I'll also maybe post on Craigslist or something.

Earlier today I did give my houseplants the rest of my white tea

**Edna_E** · 03-19-2007, 09:53 PM

What a lovely idea! Let me know what you find out.

**acidcookie** · 03-19-2007, 11:02 PM

Well I didn't come across anything in the way of community composting. Maybe I'll throw the suggestion out on Craigslist.

**Edna_E** · 03-20-2007, 09:02 PM

Ok, you motivated me. I'm trading garbage for chicken poop. I need the nitrogen, and a co-worker needs something less harsh.

Whooda thunk it?

**acidcookie** · 03-20-2007, 09:06 PM

Originally Posted by Edna_E

Ok, you motivated me. I'm trading garbage for chicken poop. I need the nitrogen, and a co-worker needs something less harsh.

Whooda thunk it?

This is too funny; I was just thinking about a dear friend back home who lived out of town a bit and had chickens. She donated her chicken's poop to a guy who would shovel it up and drive it back to his farm.

**AheeK** · 03-20-2007, 10:07 PM

Originally Posted by Edna_E

Ok, you motivated me. I'm trading garbage for chicken poop. I need the nitrogen, and a co-worker needs something less harsh.

Whooda thunk it?

Is it composted? If chicken manure is put on soil fresh, it often burns the plants and can kill them. A good friend of mine had a huge garden and was very proud of it...until her well-meaning father covered it in about four inches of chicken manure. The soil burnt so badly it didn't even grow WEEDS for two years...it was totally sterile. She told me after two years she had never been so happy to see dandelions growing in her life.