Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

WORLAND — Nearly a dozen residents participated in the community compost day Oct. 18 and residents will have another chance to bring their green waste to the city of Worland’s compost pile this Saturday.

Thanks to a collaborative partnership between Washakie County Extension, City of Worland and the Washakie County Conservation District a compost pile has been established adjacent to Riverside Rotary Park in hopes of providing compost for the city parks and community garden in the spring, as well as gardens and yards of city residents.

According to Extension educator Caitlin Youngquist, Extension worked with city staff to collect and compost leaves by the city shop several years ago.

Worland Public Works Superintendent Brian Burky said, “We composted on a significant level for three years. We collected park grass and leaves and collected Christmas trees.” At that time they did not collect green waste from residents.

On Oct. 18 and again this Saturday the city will be accepting green waste — limbs, grass and leaves — from residents. Burky said he expects more people participating Saturday than were able to come Friday afternoon, Oct. 18.

When the compost pile began several years ago it was at Newell Sargent Park. Now the city has a compost yard adjacent to Rotary Riverside Park. They received a $2,500 grant from the Washakie County Conservation District to build a fence around the yard.

The district has also provided technical assistance for the compost yard and provided volunteers.

Asking the public to bring items is a “bit of a test. I want this program to be self-sufficient,” Burky said. Having residents and businesses bring green waste to the compost should help reduce tipping fees at the landfill. The reduction in tipping fees should pay for cost of managing the compost yard, which includes wetting down the pile and rotating the pile frequently.

He said he hopes some of the larger producers — school, county and others — will start dumping limbs, leaves and grass at the compost yard.

“We don’t need to bury leaves, sticks and grass in the landfill,” Burky said.

The compost should be ready and available in the spring, but Burky said there is a chance that it may have to wait another year.

People may drop off composting material — leaves, grass and limbs —from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. There will be a pick-up service on Saturday for bagged leaves and bagged grass only. Residents who cannot haul their bagged green waste to the compost yard on Saturday, are asked to contact Extension at 347-3431 to schedule a pick-up.

Youngquist added, “We really need community support to make this happen. Leaves and grass clippings contain nutrients and organic matter that our Wyoming soils really need and they do not belong in the landfill. If you don’t bring your leaves in for composting, please use them as mulch around your garden or landscape, or compost them at home. We have lots of good information at the Extension office on fall soil care and composting.”