Composting

Practical Solution

The “How To”

Standard Home Compost

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has a comprehesive guide to composting at home here. The Missouri Coalition for the environment has a local guide for composting here. Before composting at home, be sure to check your local city or county ordinances for requirements or restrictions. For a quick glance of composting rules in the St. Louis area, check out this table for a list that includes many cities in the area.

Many local governments offer pickup or dropoff services to compost yard waste. For example, St. Peters Earth Centre/Recycle City allows residents to put yard waste in their brown curbside bin or drop it off at the St. Peters Earth Centre (learn more here). This facility processes organic material into mulch and compost. However, few local governments offer composting services for food waste. For those who do not have space to compost food waste at home, various local companies offer drop off bins and pickup services to compost food waste for residents or businesses (for a fee). 

Vermicompost

For those with limited space at home to compost, a great alternative is vermicompost. Vermicompost uses red wiggler worms to break down fruit and vegetable waste. Vermicompost bins are simple to set up and can be stored in any area where the interior temperature of the bin will remain between 59 and 77 degrees F, such as a garage, porch or deck, kitchen, basement, bathroom, closet, or apartment balcony. After a few months the matter will be fully turned and ready to fertilize your garden or potted plants. For more information about how to start your own vermicompst bin, click here.

Composting at Schools

W. W. Keysor Elementary in Kirkwood, MO, reduced waste from their cafeteria by 85% in 2012 by introducing compostable trays and separating out materials for recycling and compost. Many other schools in the St. Louis region divert waste by composting, including Nerinx Hall, Crossroads College Prep, McKelvey Elementary, Maplewood Richmond Heights Middle School, Christ Prince of Peace, St. Teresa’s Academy, various schools in the Parkway School District, Pershing Elementary, Holy Redeemer, Pattonville High School, Tillman Elementary, Sunrise R-9 School, Brentwood Middle School, and Rockwood South Middle School.

Content updates to this page made possible by funding provided by the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.