City Parks & Rec Fosters Volunteer Composting Network

This case study was originally published in Keep Compost Local, a report offering survey data, case studies, and policy recommendations to equip governments to collaborate with local composters and foster community prosperity.  

Municipality and Interviewee: DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), Joshua Singer, Community Garden Specialist

Program Overview

The DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) supports a Community Compost Cooperative Network, which encompasses 56 sites spanning each of the District of Columbia’s eight wards. In addition to 36 sites located at DPR gardens, one is at a national park, six are at schools, and 13 are located at partner gardens. Each garden is run as a cooperative, and individuals using the site join by taking a brief training and agreeing to contribute. The program is largely run and managed by volunteers. Each site has one to three volunteer managers, who train their co-op members, organize work days as needed, and are responsible for quality control. Each co-op site can accommodate around 100 active composters or one ton of food scraps per month. There are currently about 1,000 people composting around 20 tons per month. Materials accepted are primarily fruit and vegetable scraps, garden trimmings, and small amounts of bread and shredded paper.

The program began in 2013. It started with a few years at one garden. DPR spent several years on community outreach, building community trust, and developing a cooperative model to avoid volunteer burnout.

The program has inspired similar community compost networks in other cities, such as Philadelphia’s Community Compost Network.

Municipal Motivation

When the program began, DPR was having to buy soil amendments. At the same time, the haphazard way that garden members were piling up their gardening trimmings was creating rodent habitats. By enclosing the composting process and producing onsite compost, DPR was able to solve two problems at once.

Composting Activity

Each site uses a 3-bin composting system called the Compost Knox that was designed by Urban Farm Plans (which no longer exists). The system was designed to withstand “abuse,” such as youth climbing on the bins. Each bin, which is a 4-foot cube, is locked with a combination lock to prevent passersby from throwing trash in them. Those interested in joining the program agree to volunteer at least one hour per month for at least nine months of the year and have to participate in a short training session to learn the do’s and don’ts of composting. Once completed, the co-op managers provide the combination lock numbers, and the co-op members earn the right to drop off their food scraps at their convenience. The co-op managers organize workdays such as to 1) flip material from bin one to bin two or three, or 2) screen finished compost.

Outreach and Education

Many of the Community Compost Cooperative Network’s site managers have been recruited from the DC Urban Gardeners (DUG) network, a volunteer organization promoting urban agriculture, food justice, and sustainability resources for the greater DC area. For many years, as the program was starting up, DPR offered a 30-hour Urban Master Composter Certificate Course.

Each bin has a metal sign affixed to it explaining what it is and how to get involved. DPR also set up a listserv specifically for site managers to communicate with each other.

For onboarding new members of each cooperative site, DPR created a training guide for managers. The guide covers steps such as the importance of oxygen, moisture, and mixing food scraps with “browns” (mostly fall leaves and wood chips). It also covers site orientation and how to compost in a 3-bin system.

DPR maintains a website on the program along with an interactive map to facilitate finding a site. Each site on the map lists the address and how to contact the site manager.

Compost Markets

All the sites are co-located with gardens, so gardeners, who do not have to be members of the compost cooperative, can use the finished compost. Co-op members can take compost for home use.

Costs & Benefits: D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation

Each 3-bin system costs about $1,200 for materials. Some of the bins were constructed by a contractor (at $5,000 each) and some were built by volunteers on community bin build days. Tumbler sifters cost $50 in materials to construct. DPR hired a contractor to build some of these for $500 each. Not every site has a tumbler sifter. The only paid staff is Joshua Singer, who works a fraction of his time on the program.

The benefits to the District have included: building a culture of compost know-how at the neighborhood and school level (along with a culture of shared responsibility), reducing rodent issues at gardens, enhancing local soils for local food production, and facilitating community volunteerism and connection.

Funding

A Sustainable DC grant of $25,000 enabled the purchase of the wood to build 20 of the 3-bin systems. Those were built with volunteers. Then DPR secured more funding and was able to build about half of the additional bins with contractors and about half with volunteers. One school raised $1,000 with its Parent-Teacher Association (DPR paid for the tools).

Lessons Learned

Keys to success include:

• Having a champion in local government
• Conducting community outreach
• Finding a contractor to design and build the systems
• Implementing the cooperative model (e.g., volunteer managers who train members, who in turn agree to work certain hours per year)
• Creating “something that can manage itself and not fall apart the moment we turn our back”
• Setting a culture of shared responsibility
• Offering Urban Master Composter training classes

Additional lessons learned:

• Improve the bin design or consider other types of garden-scale systems (often the wood slats in the Compost Knox become warped, creating gaps that allow unwanted critters to get in)
• Plan for more grant funding to purchase tumbler sifters and supplies
• Ideally, have a full-time position managing the program
• Figure out how to provide sites with adequate carbon (such as creating a leaf bank or delivering loads of wood chips)
• Raise money to cover ground preparation for bin systems. Almost all bins are placed directly on the bare earth, which leads to sinking when fully loaded. Plan for and install gravel pads or asphalt/concrete under each bin.

More Information

• Community Compost Cooperative Network website
• Philadelphia’s Community Compost Network website
• DC DPR Compost Cooperative Interactive Map

Featured Photo: 3-bin system on new gravel pad built by Eagle Scout. Credit: Institute for Local Self-Reliance