It rained the first hour. The

temperatures were on the chilly side. The

only warm thing outside was the

demonstration compost pile built the

previous Tuesday. Despite that, more than

250 visited

Finch

Arboretum

on Oct. 26

and

participated in

the Fall

Compost Fair

and Leaf

Festival. Of

those

attending,

72% had

never been

to a compost fair before and 28% had never

tried composting. 151 Spokane County

households left the event with bins and the

reinforced knowledge of how to reduce

waste in their backyards through home

composting.

The event

would not

have been

possible

without the

dedication of

MC/R

volunteers.

Helping out

that day were

LuWanna

Morris,

Robert

Flowers,

Kathy Schrader, Isaac Curtis, J.P.

Boudreau, Maggie Rowe, Kathleen

Biggest Fall Compost Fair in Years

November 2019 Fall Edition

Leaf Letter

The Newsletter of Spokane County’s

Master Composters/Recyclers

In this issue:

Fall Compost Fair

1

Compost to

Car Parts

2

2020 Recycling

Calendar

2

Auditing Recycling

Trucks

3

Summing up

Composting

4

Check MC/Rs out

on Facebook

Browning, Mary Weigel, Norbert

Leute, Dan Swanson, Kathy Callum,

Erica Dellwo, Jacquelynn Wright, Katy

Manis, John Schuster, Tera Lessard,

Patty Eller, Laren Sunde, Austin

Stewart, and Ken Avery.

Pile Building

Helping build the demonstration pile the

Tuesday before the fair were Austin

Stewart, Kathy Schrader, and

Jacquelynn

Wright.

Despite

scampering for

materials

following snow

and rain storms,

the pile reached

temperatures of

over 140

degrees. Thanks

also to those

who dropped off

rotten apples

and lavender

trimmings. The

pile smelled

divine!

Isaac Curtis and Maggie Rowe try

to stay dry during first hour.

Dan Swanson expounds on the

benefits of compost.

Ken Avery

teaches

about

compost

tea with

home

made

brewer.

Page 2 Leaf Letter

Auto industry researchers have been

brainstorming ways to make car parts

more affordable, durable and eco-friendly.

Among them are researchers at Ohio

State University (OSU) who are testing

natural auto parts made from composted

materials like tomato peels and egg shells.

Katrina Cornish, professor and researcher

at OSU, is leading the university’s

“compost to car” project. Cornish and

her team believe that tomato skins and

eggshells could function as reinforcing

fillers in carbon black. Carbon black is a

crucial component in many rubber-based

car parts, such as tires, hoses,

suspension bushings and motor mounts.

Carbon black is produced by burning

heavy petroleum products.

From BioCycle, Sept/Oct, 2019 Issue

Turning Compost Into Car Parts

2020 Spokane Recycles Calendar Available Soon

Regional Solid Waste System (SCRSWS)

and is part of America Recycles Day

activities that took place across the

country through November 15. This

year marked the 20th anniversary of this

popular contest in Spokane County.

Thirty two grade level finalists were

recognized at the November 12 meeting

of the Board of County Commissioners.

There, 17 of those finalists heard that

their artwork was selected to

appear in the 2020 “Spokane

County Recycles” calendar. A

limited number of calendars will

be available free of charge from

the City of Spokane Solid Waste

Disposal Dept. administration

office, 625-6580, beginning in late

December. Call or email,

Solidwaste@spokanecity.org if you

would like to receive one.

235 children from 20 schools in Spokane

County created hand-drawn posters for

entry in the “America Recycles Day”

poster contest. Their work, created to

help raise recycling awareness in Spokane

County, was based on the theme, “Let’s

Recycle Right!” The annual

competition, open to students in

kindergarten through grade 8, is

sponsored by the Spokane County

Recycling

Humor

Because we all

need to laugh!

I used to work in a

recycling plant

crushing cans. I

had to quit, it was

soda pressing.

I’m trying to start a

chewing gum

recycling company.

I just need to get it

off the ground.

Page 3 Fall Edition

Composting

Humor

Because we are

nothing if not

balanced.

I refuse to work

with compost. It

is degrading.

Someone keeps

dumping compost

on my garden. I

don’t know who is

doing it; the plot

thickens!

Winter does not

arrive until the ice

is IN the

compost pile!

We know that contamination in single

stream recycling programs like Spokane’s

is on the rise. But, just how is that

measured and how can the worst

contaminates be identified? To help the

Spokane Solid Waste Department with

those answers, they teamed up with the

Waste Management SMaRT Center to

study recent truck audit results.

How is a recycling truck audited to

see what is in the load? Here are the

steps taken to quantify what should and

should not be placed in the blue curbside

carts.

Step #1—weigh the in-bound truck

Step # 2 — empty truck’s load on

cleared floor of SMaRT Center

Step #3—take a 200 lb. sample to sort.

Step #4—separate everything by type of

material

Step #5 weigh and record

Results of over a dozen audits this

past year of City of Spokane trucks

reinforce what was already suspected.

The worst contaminates continue to be

plastic bags and other items that tangle

the sorting equipment. Equally as

concerning, though, are items that prove

hazardous to those collecting and sorting

this material. Examples include bear

spray, batteries, used syringes, and bags

of human waste.

A campaign targeting the need to

recycle correctly will be kicked off soon

in the hopes of educating the public and

improving the quality of local recycling.

Check with your own hauler on what is

acceptable where you live.

Please, know before you throw!

Auditing Recycling Trucks

2900 S. Geiger Blvd. Spokane, WA 99224

Phone: 509-625-6580

Recycling Information: 509-477-6800

E-mail:

solidwaste@spokanecity.org

SCIENCE NIGHTS

Otis Orchards Elem.

Thurs., Jan. 30

6 to 8 p.m.

Holmes Elem.

Thurs., Feb. 6

6 to 7:30 p.m.

Evergreen Elem.

Mon., Mar. 16

6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Trentwood Elem.

Thur., Mar. 26

5 to 7 p.m.

Spokane Master Composters/Recyclers

We are on the web! spokanecountysolidwaste.org

The Leaf Letter is a

publication of the

Spokane County Regional

Solid Waste System

(SCRSWS) with partial

funding provided by a

grant from the

Washington State

Department of Ecology.

Editor: Kris Major

Calendar of Upcoming Events (Sign up on the Google Calendar)

Words no

longer are the

preferred way

to convey

complicated

messages to

the public.

Gone are the

days of poring

over hundred-

page reports

and wading

through

graphs and

charts.

In their

place are info

graphics like

this one

produced for

King County.

A commit-

ment to

manage

organic waste

is summarized

in one

illustration.

What do you

think?

When printed, it is on recycled/

recyclable paper.

Summing up Composting

2020 MC/R Classes Begin

WSU Extension

5:30 to 8 p.m.

Home and Garden Show

Spokane Convention Center

April 3-5

Pile Building at Finch Arboretum

Tue., Apr. 21

1 p.m.

Spring Compost Fair at Finch

Sat., Apr. 25

11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Page 4