The Community Compost Program is an initiative offered by Winton Mfg. Compost Works. With this program, members can drop off household food waste at drop-off locations. Winton’s state-of-the-art commercial composting facility will turn your food and yard waste into local, high-quality, nutritious compost that will be resold within the community.
To become a member, go to the Winton Mfg. Compost Works website and click on the orange 'Learn More & Sign Up' button.
As a new member, you will get a sealing 5-gallon bucket to collect your food scraps in.
Take your bucket to one of Winton's drop-off locations. Its contents will be taken up to Winton Mfg. Compost Works to be composted.
Save your dollars by diverting food waste that would otherwise go to the landfill, and giving it the opportunity to be recycled into a new resource - compost!
By choosing to participate in this program you are supporting Winton Mfg. Compost Works and Waste Loop. Your locally spent dollars help grow the community and ‘close the loop’ closer to home.
Your trash that is not compostable and still destined for the landfill will be less smelly. No more dripping trash filled with moldy food means the chore of taking the trash out won’t be as gross!
Methane Gas is a greenhouse gas that is released into the atmosphere when food decomposes in a landfill. This is because it isn’t given the proper environment and attention to turn it into a safe decomposed soil amendment. Methane Gas is 80 times more potent than Carbon Dioxide, making it a lead contributor to climate change according to the EPA.
This is where the real magic begins! Winton will collect the food waste from the Drop Off Locations and haul it up to their site up in Cole’s Corner. From there, they will form piles that will heat up and provide excellent habitat for microbes to break down pathogens and convert it into safe, nutrient-dense compost. Their state-of-the-art composting system tracks and monitors the piles during every step of the decomposition process to ensure the highest quality product. When the pile is fully broken down, it is available for you and your neighbors to use in any project you need! Your vegetables, perennials, ornamentals, and houseplants among other plant friends will thank you!
We understand that it might be difficult to commit at this time, so here are some ways that you can still do your part, do the work yourself, and have fun learning about this process! Here is a great article to learn more about how to begin composting and how it can help combat climate change.
Learn more about how composting combats climate change and helps our planet by visiting this helpful article from the US Composting Council!
Ready to sign up? Let's head to Winton's website!
Winton Mfg. Compost Works is a state-of-the-art commercial composting facility located in Leavenworth, WA. Winton is equipped to accept yard waste, food waste and agricultural byproducts from our community in order to transform it into high-quality compost. Through computer-monitored technology and advanced membrane covers on active compost piles, Winton efficiently manages the natural process of decomposition. Their hard work pays off with a nutrient-dense compost product that is an essential component of healthy soil and, in turn, healthy plants.