Composting programs in towns, businesses, schools, and homes are popping up all over Maine. This should be no surprise given the many environmental and economic benefits well designed and managed composting programs can have. From reducing the need for landfill space and lowering municipal solid waste (MSW) program costs to remediating contaminated soils and lowering greenhouse gas emissions, composting is a proven and effective tool for eliminating wastefulness and protecting the environment. Explore the resources below to learn more about the value of composting and how you can start to compost in your home, business, city, or town.
(REMEMBER: You should always first reduce your waste, or feed people or animals with edible food before composting. For more food recovery strategies, visit our page on Food Waste.)
Other Composting Resources
- Maine Guide to Recovering and Composting Organics in Maine: An excellent resource from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection
- Maine’s Compost School
- Biocycle: A national composting and organics recycling information hub.
- University of Maine 2011 Waste Characterization Study: Showing that around 43% of our household garbage bags contain organic material (and 27 percent of which is uneaten food).
- US Composting Council: Provides a wealth of resources and facts about composting in the US.
- MIT Sloan School Report on Residential Curbside Composting Programs: Simply addresses common questions and concerns about municipal composting programs.
- EPA Listing of Local Composting Programs/Information
Home Composting Resources
Home composting is the most economical and environmentally sustainable way to manage household organic waste. Doing the work yourself, and preventing your organic materials from travelling to a compost site, saves money on any transportation and processing fees and reduces collection vehicle traffic and pollution. If you have a garden and the desire to maintain your pile, then you can easily have a successful composting program at home. If you’d prefer that a great company come to your house and pick up your food scraps and turn them into compost for you, then you are in luck, too! Here are some resources to get you started:
