While ILSR is a national organization, we maintain a deep focus in our hometown, the District of the Columbia, where we first opened our doors in 1974. For more than a decade, we have advanced waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting in DC and the region. Our current focus is cultivating locally based composting in the District.
TRAINING
Through our Neighborhood Soil Rebuilders composter train-the-trainer program – developed in partnership with ECO City Farms – we offer compost training: backyard, worm/vermicomposting, and community-scale (for schools, community gardens, urban farms, and the like). We offer a variety of training sessions, from half-day workshops to 6-week courses that involve 20 hours of classroom time and 20 hours of hands-on field work.
Interested in learning when our next DC area training is? Email DCHomeComposting@ilsr.org.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE & PARTNERSHIPS
We are directly building and expanding community compost sites in the District.
- Howard University Community Garden in partnership with Loop Closing
- East Capitol Community Garden in partnership with the Univ. of the District of Columbia
- Clay Terrace Community Garden in partnership with Soilful City
- EW Stokes Public Charter School
SPEAKING
Invite our trained staff to speak about composting at your next event. We have presented at many DC forums including the DC Food Recovery Summit, Rooting DC, and the DC Department of Parks & Recreation’s Urban Master Composter Training Course.
POLICY
Policy, legislative directives, and administrative rules are important to create the right environment for composting to thrive. In DC, we have collaborated with many groups to advance favorable policies for composting.
- The Sustainable DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2014 banned foodservice styrofoam effective January 2016, with additional requirements for foodservice ware to be recyclable or compostable by January 2017.
- The Sustainable Solid Waste Management Amendment Act of 2014 calls for a zero waste plan to achieve an 80% waste diversion goal, a collection program for compostable material, and more.
RESOURCES
Check out our composting-related reports, posters, infographics, and videos:
Growing Local Fertility: A Guide to Community Composting – report
Hierarchy to Reduce Food Waste & Grow Community – poster / graphic
Composting Impacts More Than You Think – posters and infographics
Cultivating Community Composting Forum – Los Angeles 2017 event
Bike-Powered Food Scrap Collection – article
The State of Composting in the US: What, Why, Where, How – report
Compost Happens, Training Matters – video
What Is Community Composting – video