About the Toolkit
Local composting represents a fundamentally different approach to the “out of sight, out of mind” status quo of the waste industry. When communities manage their own organic materials, they create food sovereignty, local jobs, greener neighborhoods, reduced pollution, enhanced soil health, and stronger social connections. This isn’t just better materials management — it’s community wealth-building that demonstrates environmental solutions can strengthen local economies while addressing climate disruption and soil degradation.
This toolkit was created by the Iniciativa comunitaria de compostaje of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance to provide a wide range of audiences, from local government, to farmers, to policymakers, to advocates, to community and home composters, with the tools they need to advance local composting. While most of the resources within the toolkit have been developed by ILSR, it also includes relevant resources from partners and allies.
Cómo utilizar
Begin by selecting your desired goal.
- “Learn to Compost” provides resources for local government, home composters, community composters, and farmers on how to compost, including best management practices, teaching others to compost, and assessing compost quality.
- “Explore Local Composting Benefits” provides resources and research on the food security and soil health, environmental, social, economic, and equity benefits of local composting for all audiences.
- “Advocate and Change Policy” provides resources for advocates, policymakers, local government, and farmers on how to champion local composting through local and state policy change.
- “Implement and Operate Programs” provides resources for local government, community composters, and farmers on how to start composting programs, build composting sites, fund programs, and/or scale up operations.
- “Educate and Engage Community” provides resources such as signage, infographics, social marketing examples, and translated Spanish-language outreach materials for all audiences.
Then, select an audience, if applicable. Not all topics have audience filtering.
You can go back to re-filter resources by selecting “Choose a different topic” or “Clear all filters.”
You can translate the toolkit to Spanish by clicking the button in the bottom right corner and toggling the language to “Spanish.”
This project has also been funded in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under a Recycling, Education & Outreach (REO) assistance agreement to ILSR (EPA Cooperative Agreement 4Y-84077201). This content does not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does the Environmental Protection Agency endorse trade names or recommend the use of commercial products mentioned.
