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From Food Scraps to Fertile Soil
Going Green This Earth Month

Though every day is Earth Day to us, the month of April is Earth Month, and it gives us an opportunity to focus on celebrating our planet, reflecting on our own impact on the environment, and hopefully making some positive changes to protect it! While there are many ways we can make a difference, one small but mighty step is through composting—a simple yet powerful climate solution. So let's get excited about composting and make our planet a little greener, one banana peel at a time!

Below you'll find new compost guidelines for Colorado's Front Range, a virtual training on the future of compost, upcoming on-farm compost & carbon farming tours in Boulder County, a Colorado bill supporting organics management and one to require clear labeling for what is compostable, and a host of Earth Month events for you to engage in the swell of action to create circular compost systems! But first, we announce BIG NEWS: The deployment of the nation's FIRST electric commercial compost collection truck!

Please join us at 
Eco-Cycle’s new Electric Compost Collection Truck celebration event

For Earth Month, come join Eco-Cycle in celebrating the union of Zero Waste & Zero Emissions!

Eco-Cycle’s first-in-the-nation electric compost collection truck has finally arrived and is ready to hit the road—collecting organic discards from businesses and schools across Boulder County to make quality compost to build healthy soils.

THIS Friday, April 14 (program starts at 10:15 am)
Eco-Cycle’s Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM)
6400 Arapahoe in Boulder

• Hear from the Colorado Energy Office and local elected officials about how our new truck represents the beginning of greening the hauling industry.
• Join us in a photo op of the Eco-Cycle community with our new truck.
• Come check out our state-of-the-art electric vehicle: Open house from 10:15 am – 1:00 pm.

Help us make history together with another FIRST for Eco-Cycle!

A key component of composting is to ensure that what we put into our compost bins is clean—you can’t build healthy soils that pull carbon from the atmosphere with compost that is contaminated with plastic pieces or glass shards! Due to rising contamination, many compost facilities across the nation (including Colorado’s Front Range commercial composter A1 Organics) are simplifying compost guidelines to accept food scraps and yard trimmings only. The goal is to keep organic materials like food scraps and yard trimmings out of the landfill to prevent harmful methane emissions while creating a valuable soil amendment that will help Colorado farms and landscapes build healthy soils that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, reduce water and chemical use, and grow nutritious foods. 

Of course, it's not all on us as individuals to make sure food scraps, yard trimmings, and other organic matter gets composted instead of landfilled. We need systemic change to help clean up the compost stream and to ensure that composting is accessible and affordable across the state. That’s why Eco-Cycle is championing two important compost bills right now that need your support!

Colorado Senate Bill 23-191, the Organics Diversion Study bill, would direct the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to study the impacts, benefits, and feasibility of requiring the diversion of organic material, such as food scraps and yard trimmings, from landfills and into beneficial uses, including feeding hungry people, feeding animals, and producing compost, mulch, and biochar.

• This bill is expected to be voted on by the Colorado Senate soon; the date is to be determined. Support this bill by writing a letter to your senator TODAY—it takes less than one minute!

Colorado Senate Bill 23-253, Standards For Products Represented As Compostable, would prevent producers from representing a product as compostable unless the product is certified compostable by a credible third party. If a product is not certified compostable, a producer is prohibited from using labels, images, or words that could mislead the consumer into believing the product is compostable. 

• This bill is expected to pass through committees and be up for a Senate vote in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for ways to support this bill in an upcoming Senate vote!

These policies, if passed, can support a circular compost system for the state in which residents and businesses contribute clean discards to the compost stream, which are then used to produce a finished compost soil amendment for use on farms, gardens, lawns, and public lands to build healthy soils and plants, and to draw down carbon from the atmosphere.

Composting is a simple yet powerful climate solution that can play a significant role in mitigating the effects of climate change. However, for composting to be effective, it is crucial that we not only do what we can individually, but also work toward systemic change that leads to expanded compost access and infrastructure. By working together, we can create a more sustainable world for ourselves and future generations!

We’re Bringing the CHaRM to You: April 15, 22, and 29!

We hope to see you at one of this year's Earth Day Hard-to-Recycle Collection Events where we partner with municipalities to bring the Eco-Cycle CHaRM to you! Note that collection events are for residents of the host city only, and proof of residency will be required. Upcoming CHaRM collection events include:

• Superior: Hard-to-Recycle, Household Hazardous Waste, and Mower Take-Back Event: Saturday, April 15, 9 am–1 pm, at Eldorado K–8 School, 3351 S Indiana St. Free (though some items may have a fee). Registration is required.
• Lafayette: Hard-to-Recycle Collection Event: Saturday, April 22, 9 am–1 pm, at Flatirons Church, 201 Waneka Parkway. Free (though a fee will be charged for some electronics). Registration is required—space is limited!
• Louisville: Spring Cleaning Event (Electronics Recycling, Household Hazardous Waste and Gas-Powered Lawn Equipment Collections): Saturday, April 29, 9 am–12 pm, Ascent Church, 550 McCaslin Blvd. By appointment only with limited slots. Registration is required.

Get Caught Up with Composting: A “Town Hall” Style Gathering: April 12

Join the City of Lafayette, City of Louisville, and A1 Organics for a presentation about recent changes in compost guidelines. Learn about local resources and how you can best help fight contamination. Wednesday, April 12, 5:30–6:30pm, Library Meeting Room, 775 W. Baseline Road, Lafayette. Learn more here.

Backyard Compost Workshops: April 10, April 29, and May 2

How do you start and maintain a highly efficient backyard compost system? Come to one of three workshops hosted by Boulder County to learn what to feed your compost pile, appropriate bins to use, methods for our geographic region, tips and troubleshooting, and much more! Sign up for one of three backyard composting workshops here.

Join Eco-Cycle at local Earth Month celebrations! 
Find Eco-Cycle at the following events—drop by and say hi, play a sorting game, pick up guidelines and resources, or ask us your recycling and composting questions! View our upcoming events here!