In collaboration with the US Composting Council (USCC) and BioCycle, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance announces two events to be held in conjunction with the USCC’s International Conference and Trade Show, COMPOST2017, in Los Angeles:

Best Practices in Community Composting Workshop –

January 23, 2017

Cultivating Community Composting Forum 2017 –

January 24, 2017

These events will bring together composters to network, share best practices, and build support for community-scale composting systems and enterprises. The Cultivating Community Composting Forum 2017 is the fourth national forum sponsored by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and BioCycle.

Interested in sponsoring and helping to support this event? Click here to go the sponsorship page and let us know how you can support this event!

Community composters, we invite your participation and input on the agenda! What topics or experts would you most like to hear from? Are you interested in presenting? What are your biggest challenges?

Limited scholarships are available to community composters! Apply by Friday, October 28. We have scholarships up to $500 to help offset COMPOST2017 registration fees, and travel and hotel costs. Community composters are also eligible to receive a waived registration fee (a $350 value) with a commitment to volunteer 8 hours at the conference.

TO APPLY FOR A SCHOLARSHIP OR PROVIDE INPUT ON AGENDA AND TOPICS, [email protected].

ccc-forum-2016-group-photo

BEST PRACTICES IN COMMUNITY COMPOSTING WORKSHOP –

8:30 AM TO 4:30 PM, Monday, january 23rd, 2017

In this full-day workshop for community composters, we will walk through practices that work and address how to take your community-scale composting to the next level. Through both presentation and small group discussion, walk away knowing how to adapt the efforts and achievements of other programs for your community. Open to community-scale composters who are composting on-site at schools, community gardens and farms or otherwise keeping the process as local and small-scale as possible while engaging the community through participation and education. Pedal-powered collectors welcome.

Practitioners: A diverse team of community composters will lead this workshop. If you’re interested in participating, please email Joshua Etim at [email protected].
Facilitators/hosts: Brenda Platt, Institute for Local Self-Reliance; Nora Goldstein, BioCycle

Workshop Cost: USCC Member Price: $275 / Non-Member Price: $350

If you are seeking scholarship assistance, please email Joshusa Etim, [email protected], and DO NOT register on the USCC site. Scholarship awardees will be given specific registration instructions. Apply by October 28th. Any questions? Email Joshua Etim at [email protected].

If you are not seeking a scholarship nor a waived registration, please register as a regular attendee on the USCC web site, here.

CULTIVATING COMMUNITY COMPOSTING FORUM –

8:15 AM TO 4:00 PM, TUESDAY, JANUARY 24TH, 2017

This Forum will take place as a track on the first day of the US Composting Council’s International Conference and Trade Show (January 23rd-26th).

The Forum aims to:

Foster greater interconnection between community/small-scale/urban composters and the USCC membership/conference attendees
Show how community-scale composting fits in and complements the larger composting industry, both collection and processing, and both for individuals and organizations.
Showcase the variety of models and innovative ideas that are growing from the ground up.
Spur a community-based composter network that will stay connected following the conference.

If you are not seeking a scholarship nor a waived registration, please register as a regular attendee on the USCC web site, here.

TO APPLY FOR A SCHOLARSHIP OR PROVIDE INPUT ON AGENDA AND TOPICS, EMAIL [email protected].

WHAT IS COMMUNITY COMPOSTING?

Community composting is the radical idea that compost is used within the same community where the material is generated and that the community participates in some way. Community composters keep the feedstocks, process and product as local as possible while engaging the community through participation and education. Projects range from urban to rural and include small enterprises, demonstration/training sites, schools, universities, pedal-powered collection systems, worker-owned cooperatives, community gardens and farms.

For more information on community composting, download our report:
Growing Local Fertility: A Guide to Community Composting