Compost
Garden Green® Compost You'll Dig™ is produced year-round at WLSSD's Organics Composting Facility. Each step of the 6 month-long composting process is closely monitored to ensure a premium finished product.
We combine leaves, ground brush and yard trimmings with source-separated food waste collected from local restaurants, schools, institutions, and our household food waste drop sites.
Compost recipes are tailored to blend optimum mixtures of yard and food waste in the industrial mixer. The freshly mixed feedstock is placed on top of long beds of woodchips. These compost piles, called "windrows", receive fresh air through pipes embedded in the woodchips. The process is completely natural; only water and air are added to enhance the work of the beneficial microorganisms breaking down the organic materials. A blanket of compost is spread over each windrow to insulate the pile and serve as a biofilter for odors.
Temperatures in the piles are closely monitored to ensure that weed seeds and pathogens are destroyed. Temperatures must remain above 130 degrees F for at least seven days. A lengthy composting phase follows. The material is then put through a screen to remove larger wood chips and is cured until mature.
The finished compost is tested in an independent, certified lab according to the guidelines established by the United States Composting Council's Standards of Testing Assurance Program. Customers purchasing Garden Green® in bags or bulk are assured of a quality product. Obtain current test results on our website or by calling the WLSSD hotline @ 218-722-0761.