In tandem with their Roanoke Valley partners, Clean Valley Council will be launching a composting project this month that teaches middle and high school students and their families to turn their food waste into garden compost.
The organization will give 20 volunteer households from around the Roanoke region each a FREE composting kit, $150 value, which includes an Earth Machine 80-gallon outdoor composter, compost pail, and hand scale, in return for tracking their food waste for 12 weeks.
The goals of the Community Action Project are to encourage family learning, promote stewardship, and gather baseline data for future projects.
Composting food scraps builds soil, retains carbon that has positive environmental outcomes, and helps reduce landfill waste. For this reason, municipalities across the nation are now encouraging citizen composting, but not everyone has the tools or know-how for getting started.
“We hope that this project helps families see how easy it is to compost and feel good about helping the environment.” said Executive Director, Courtney Carter Plaster. Funding for the project comes from a competitive grant awarded by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
The project runs March 21 to June 12, 2021. Interested students and their families in Roanoke and Botetourt County, City of Roanoke, City of Salem, and Town of Vinton may register for the project online from March 9-March 15, 2021 at the Clean Valley Council website, www.cleanvalley.org/composting.