May 29 is national Learn About Composting Day, and the Pennsylvania Resources Council will celebrate it with a free statewide Backyard Composting webinar. It starts at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
The 45-minute Backyard Composting “crash course” is an abridged version of PRC’s Backyard Composting class that covers the basics of composting, including placing a bin, feeding and managing your compost setup, and determining when your compost is finished, according to a PRC news release.
“The annual ‘Learn About Composting Day’ reminds us that we can act every day to reduce our environmental impact,” PRC Executive Director Darren Spielman said in the release. “Food is the largest portion of the American waste stream by weight. Composting food scraps and yard waste reduces greenhouse gas emissions and produces a valuable resource.”
Advance registration is required at www.prc.org/composting.
“According to the EPA, an average person creates 4.4 pounds of waste each day, and much of this waste can be recycled in some fashion, including composting,” Spielman said. “PRC is proud to help Pennsylvanians become environmental stewards by teaching them how to waste less and reuse and recycle more.”
For an expanded introduction to composting, anyone can register for one of PRC’s ongoing Backyard Composting webinars or workshops. The $70 course fee includes an 82-gallon compost bin.
Registration for instructional seminars is available via the PRC website or by calling 412-488-7490, ext. 1.
For a complete schedule of PRC conservation workshops, visit www.prc.org/programs/conservation-workshops.
On Wednesday, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey proclaimed it to be SoilMill PGH Day, in honor of the city’s pilot program being recognized by the United States Conference of Mayors as the 1st Place, Large City Winner for the 2024 Childhood Obesity Prevention/Environmental Health & Sustainability Awards.
The city was awarded a grant of $250,000 — from the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the American Beverage Foundation for a Healthy America — to continue to grow the composting program. You can learn more about it here: https://engage.pittsburghpa.gov/soilmillpgh.
“What we’ve learned from SoilMill PGH is that there’s no one size fits all solution to managing organics,” Gainey said in a news release. “We recognize this comes down to more than just managing waste, as implementing composting is an exercise in behavioral science.”
The PUP is the publication of the striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
