GCP – Resources – Compost News

Compost News

Tools & Resources

How to get started with composting

Oct 3, 2017

Learn the basics to composting — it’s easier than you think! Composting helps shrink our landfills, and the results are great for your garden and the planet. The trick is to know your “greens” from your “browns” and how to layer them properly to help the pile...

Food Composting

Jul 29, 2017

Nearly half of the solid waste produced globally is organic or biodegradable. Much of it ends up in landfills; there, it decomposes in the absence of oxygen and produces the greenhouse gas methane, which is up to 34 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a...

Compost Tea: Why It’s Great for Your Plants And How To Make It

Jul 15, 2017

Every organic gardener knows their next crop is only as good as the ground it grows in. Keeping the soil healthy is of utmost importance for setting up a biologically sound system that can produce top quality produce for you to enjoy. For this reason, avid gardeners...

Compost and Mulch

Jul 2, 2017

What is Compost? Compost is the end product resulting from the controlled biological decomposition of organic material from a feedstock into a stable, humus-like product that has many environmental benefits. Composting is a natural process that is managed to optimize...

Compost Use in Agriculture

Jun 9, 2017

Use of composted manures and plant materials in farming has a history almost as long as farming itself. California farmers enjoy access to high-quality compost and mulch products from a variety of feedstocks virtually everywhere in the state. California compost...

From Curb to Compost… Striving for Zero Waste

Jul 25, 2016

Did you know, on average, Americans throw away 250 million tons of garbage annually? According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Urban Sustainability Project report from 2014, aimed at identifying effective urban sustainability initiatives, 183...

California Compost Coalition Newsletter – May 2016 – International Compost Awareness Week

May 9, 2016

From the onset of 2015, great progress for the spread of compost use was expected during International Year of Soils, and there have been few disappointments over that timeframe. While a wide variety of policy drivers (along with some costly policy barriers) have been...

U.S. 2030FLW Reduction Goal: A Call to Action by Stakeholders

Apr 26, 2016

On September 16, 2015, USDA and EPA announced the first national goal to reduce food loss and waste by 50 percent by the year 2030. As one of the first steps, the federal government supported the 2015 Food Recovery Summit in Charleston, SC. This national meeting...

Berkeley Lab and Department of Energy

Feb 18, 2016

Both the Berkeley Lab and the Department of Energy are committed to bringing science solutions to the reduction of atmospheric CO2 and sequestration of carbon. My lab (Andersen) is involved in examining the often-overlooked interplay between microbes that can...

Compostable Containers; reducing the volume of plastic in our waste streams

Dec 21, 2015

With the levels of plastic in our waste streams rising every year, it is essential to explore ways to reduce and redirect the amount of plastic waste we are funneling into landfills."Thirty-one million tons of plastic arrive at municipal solid waste facilities in the...

Find Your Nearest Worm Supplier

Nov 28, 2015

If you're embracing the zero waste urban lifestyle, we bet you know where the closest local & sustainable coffee shop is to your urban home. But zero waste doesn't only apply to compostable coffee cups; you should also know where your local...

Skeptical of the septic system? Check out Clivus Multrum composting toilets!

Nov 23, 2015

Composting toilets. Now here's an idea that may have once caused even the most Berekely of us to turn up our noses. Yet some companies, such as Clivus Multrum, have accepted that daunting challenge of breaking down human waste, and have introduced products, methods,...