Earlier this month, our Member Services Manager, Brian Patnoe, had the privilege of attending the Maine Compost School(opens in a new tab) to earn his Compost Site Operator Certification.
This weeklong class, which included 16 people from a total of 7 states, covered all aspects of composting including animal composting, leaf and yard waste composting, and food scrap composting.
Over the course of a week, Brian received valuable class time, as well as hands-on activities such as building a compost recipe and several site visits. These site visits included an animal mortality facility(opens in a new tab), a working farm(opens in a new tab), a compost company,(opens in a new tab) and a visit to the Farmington Compost Cooperative(opens in a new tab).
A special note: the animal mortality facility, called Compassionate Composting, specializes in the respectful and dignified pick-up, handling, transport, and composting of horses and other large animals after their death.
(Left) A thermometer measures the internal temperature of a compost pile to make sure it remains active (Right) Compassionate animal composting of horses.
(Left) Compassionate animal composting (Right) Checking a compost pile that had processed a cow.
(Left) Group activity at the Maine Compost School - building the perfect compost recipe (Right) Windrows at Rainbow Valley Farm.
By attending this class, Brian will be able to provide more knowledge to the ever-evolving solid waste industry and help Member towns with another opportunity to divert items out of the trash stream and help towns create a valuable resource.
At the Maine Compost School - students practice their compost recipe and skills to fix a compost pile.
A pair of beautiful compost piles at the Farmington Compost Cooperative where food scraps from the University of Maine campus are composted. Bonus: the finished compost is put up for sale and the program has no tax impact!