Composting In Schools


Outdoor Composting

Outdoor composting systems can be larger than indoor bioreactors, allowing students to compost greater quantities of food scraps and landscaping trimmings. Although slightly less convenient than a system right in the classroom, students can monitor the temperature, moisture content, and other aspects of an outdoor system, and they can bring samples of the compost inside for observation and experimentation. Many schools have developed outdoor composting systems into demonstration sites, with signs explaining the composting process.

Unlike indoor systems, outdoor systems are home to a diverse range of invertebrates such as millipedes, centipedes, earthworms, pseudoscorpions, beetles, snails, mites, and springtails. These organisms form an intricate food web, and they can be used for illustrating ecological principles as well as for investigating topics such as life cycles and feeding preferences.

In some outdoor systems, the organic materials are periodically mixed or "turned." This redistributes materials that were on the outside of the pile and exposes them to the higher levels of moisture, warmth, and microbial activity found in the center. It also fluffs up the compost materials, allowing better air flow through the pile. The net result generally is to speed up the composting process.

Bins should be located close to a water source in case they become too dry. Good drainage is also important in order to avoid standing water and the build-up of anaerobic conditions. Other considerations include avoiding exposure to high winds which may dry and cool the pile, and to direct sunlight which may also dry out the pile. The pile should not touch wooden structures or trees because it may cause them to decay. There should be space nearby for temporary storage of organic wastes.

There is an endless variety of outdoor composting systems, so feel free to design your own outdoor bins using readily available scrap materials. Three general types of systems are described below. Refer to Composting: Wastes to Resources (Bonhotal and Krasny, 1990) for more details on outdoor bin designs.

Holding Units

Holding units provide a low-maintenance form of composting. You simply build the unit, fill it with organic materials, and then wait for the materials to decompose. A holding unit can be any container that holds organic materials while they are breaking down. The unit should be about a cubic meter in size (1 m x 1 m x 1 m), and it can be built from wire mesh, snow fence, cinder blocks, wooden pallets, or other materials. You can fill holding units with high-carbon materials such as autumn leaves and yard trimmings, realizing that these materials by themselves will not heat up and will require a year or more to fully decompose. If your system is dominated by leaves, you may want to avoid adding any food scraps, which might attract rodents or raccoons during the slow decomposition process. Alternatively, if you start with a mix that has the right C:N ratio and moisture level to become thermophilic, food scraps should break down quickly before any pests become a problem.

Turning Units

A turning unit looks like three holding units placed side by side. Each unit should be a cubic meter (1 m x 1 m x 1 m) in size. Leave one side open or build a gate along one edge for easy access. Fill one bin at a time, using a mixture of high-nitrogen and high-carbon materials. For rapid composting, turn the contents into the empty adjoining bin every week or two, or each time the temperature begins to decline. A pile that is kept "hot" like this should produce compost within a couple of months, although an additional period of curing is necessary before the compost is used for growing plants. The final bin provides the space needed for curing while a new batch of compost is started in the first bin.

Enclosed Bins

For small-scale outdoor composting, enclosed bins are an option. They can be purchased from home and garden centers or inexpensively built from a large garbage can. Simply drill 2-cm aeration holes in rows at roughly 15-cm intervals around the can. Fill the cans with a mixture of high-carbon and high-nitrogen materials. Stir the contents occasionally to avoid anaerobic pockets and to speed up the composting process. Although no type of bin is rodent-proof, enclosed bins do help to deter rodents and are popular for food scrap composting.


Credits

Cornell Waste Management Institute © 1996
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
Bradfield Hall, Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
607-255-1187 
cwmi@cornell.edu