A new bin on the block. . .

Our new commercial size composter arrived and it's located in the alley behind the Noble Hotel.  We're fired up about the new composter!  Why? You might ask.

Well, our new commercial compost system has a volume of 3 cubic yards, which means there is a heck of a lot of room to drop in food scraps, unusable rations, dried leaves, yard cuttings and more.  Most of this currently goes to the landfill.  Initially, the compost produced will be used to enhance our grounds (lawns, flower beds).  Eventually, once we know how much compost is produced and in what length of time, we would like to partner up with local community gardens who could use the nutrient rich soil.  Perhaps we will even start our own organic garden!

What will go in our giant composter? For any good compost, there are basic ingredients necessary for producing rich soil.

1) nitrogen-- green materials like food scraps, coffee grounds, fresh lawn cuttings and leaves. . .

2) carbon-- dried plant matter like leaves, twigs, wood chips, paper products, compostable picnic flatware and plates, press board such as cereal boxes. . .)

3) water

4) air

Click on the link above to read more about composting.

Our composter is conveniently located behind the Noble Hotel where it receives a healthy does of sun all year long.  In our efforts to be more sustainable, the fencing around the composter is salvaged fence posts from a BLM campground and the fence boards themselves are made of trex (recycled plastic).  We sourced gravel from a local river for the bottom of our composter.

What can you expect to see in the coming weeks, months and years? - An educational display for students and the public about composting. - Compost bins conveniently located around NOLS Rocky Mountain, Headquarters, and the Noble Hotel. - Statistic keeping to gather info on how long/ how much we compost. For more information and stats on our compost bin, check out Green Mountain Technologies.

The BLM fence posts where the composter will live.

Latane checks out the inside of the composter.