Workshops & Classes

Composting: It's Good for the World!

Composting is the controlled decomposition of organic materials. It's a rewarding way to recycle your yard and kitchen wastes into a valuable, nutrient rich, sweet-smelling soil amendment. There are probably as many ways to compost as there are creative people composting! The County of Santa Cruz offers many resources and services to start and maintain successful composting systems. We hope the information on this web site will help Santa Cruz County households, schools, and businesses achieve their unique composting goals.

Why Compost?

• Composting saves you money by lowering garbage bills and replacing the need for commercial soil amendments and fertilizers.

• Composting benefits your garden and container plants by improving the fertility and health of your soil. Plants grown in healthy soil are more resistant to pests and diseases. As a mulch, compost suppresses weeds and reduces the need for pest controls and sprays.

• Composting saves water by helping the soil hold moisture, reducing evaporation and water runoff. Using compost as mulch will also benefit plants by keeping roots cooler.

• Composting helps the environment by recycling valuable organic resources and extending the lifetime of our landfills.

Component concentrations, Residential curbside collected waste,
1999 Santa Cruz County Waste Characterization

 

Become a Master Composter
Click Here

Composting Questions?
Ask the Rotline!
Call (831) 423-HEAP

Worm Questions?
Ask the Worm Doctor!
Call (831) 427-3452

Learn More About Bins
Free and Reduced Cost Bins

Order Publications Online
Browse Publications

Where to buy Worms
Learn More

Composting Links
Websites of Interest


 

This website has been produced under the auspices of Recycling and Solid Waste Services of the Santa Cruz County Department of Public Works. For more information about the waste reduction programs of the County of Santa Cruz visit http://www.santacruzcountyrecycles.org/