Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / March 21, 1991, edition 1 / Page 36
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Boiling Spring Lakes Retiree Uses Simpler Way To Compost BY SUSAN USHER It's so easy William Dunn doesn't understand why more people don't do it. Shortly after moving with his wife, Thclma, from Virginia to Boil ing Spring Lakes 16 years ago, this federal government retiree hit upon an easy, inexpensive approach to composting. His method doesn't re quire special purchase of composting agents, bins or wire or other materi als and demands little day-to-day maintenance. "To me it's great," Dunn said dur ing a recent demonstration of his compost row. "All it lakes is a shov el, a 4-foot by 8-foot piece of ground and a little elbow grease." Dunn has been frustrated with the lack of interest by others in his sys tem, given its case of use, the value of compost and the great need to reduce the nation's waste stream. His role as the environmental program of work chairman for Brunswick County's Extension Club Council gives him an opportunity to help educate others on the need for waste reduction and en courage a change of habits. Not everyone has an area as large as Dunn has for recycling, but he figures most people do have a spot at least 4-foot by 8-foot that they could set aside for that purpose. Most homeowners get into composting be cause they use compost for mulching and for improving the soil in their vegetable garden or landscape. But not Dunn; he gave up gardening long ago and his own yard requires little compost. His pile ? now about 15 years old ? is part of an overall household waste reduction pro gram that includes recycling of as many items as possible. His goal: to reduce the amount of waste that must be handled by the county's sol id waste landfill. STAFF PHOTO BY SUSAN USHER WILLIAM S. DUNN of Boiling Spring Ijakes incorporates everything from vegetable scraps to junk mail in his backyard composting pile, part of an overall effort to reduce the amount of household waste hound for the rnimtv Inn/1 fill waste bound for the county landfill The program works so well that his 90-gal lon garbage can only needs to be emptied once a year. It holds mainly with steel cans, certain plastics that cannot be recycled and items, such as water conditioning system salt bags, that have plastic liners. All the cans have been rinsed, so there is no odor about the trash container even after it has sat partially filled for months. There's been only one problem. 'The trash collection crew forgot me last January," said Dunn, "so I started putting the can out more often." As in twice a year in stead of once a year. Dunn's own compost row ? it isn't much of a "pile" in the traditional sense of the word ? is a 4 1/2- by 18-foot strip of land at the rear of his Cedar Street home. To start the site, Dunn lifted about six inch es of dirt with a shovel and "filled it with what I had," he said. That included lawn clip pings, leaves, kitchen waste and other organic material. He then mixed in an almost equal amount of sand from his yard and a little 8-8 > " All it takes is a shovel, a 4 -foot by 8-foot piece of i ground and a little elbow tt f grease. X ? William Dunn Home composter 8 fertilizer to start the aerobic mi crobacterial action needed to break down the waste into compost. "Once you get the action going in one of these piles it doesn't take long to break it down," said Dunn. Without any additional effort on his part the pile produces finished com post, free of pathogens as well, in ap proximately six months. Turning, occa sional addition of more fertilizer and other attention to the pile would speed up the process ? if he needed more compost. More recenUy, Dunn has expanded use of the compost pile to biodegrade paper products such as junk mail and magazines, turning a little more of the pile each week. "I knew that paper would work, but I hadn't tried it," he said. "But when our recycling center had to stop taking magazines I derided to give it a try." By the time he reaches the start of the row again, little remains other than plastic coat ings from milk cartons, windows from busi ness envelopes and the plastic shafts from Q tips. The rest has turned into crumbly, ricli, brown compost. "It's simple and effective ? that's all I can tell you," he says. Composting Good Way To Help Reduce Landfill-Bound Waste It's becoming more and more obvious that disposing of waste material is a major is sue of the 1990s, says Wilton Harrelson, an agriculture extension technician and retired agri-businessman. "Waste management" is the catch-all termin ology used for handling everything that no one wants. This involves haz ardous waste, industrial waste, sewage, garbage, printed materials and con tainers of all kind, and or ganic waste that is gener ated at home. Public landfills that are ms maintained and paid for harrelson ^ tax dollars arc filling up, Harrelson says, and suitable locations are getting harder to find and more expensive. A partial solution is recycling. This car. be done by collecting and returning paper, some plastics, bottles and cans to a local recycling center. Some disposal problems arc beyond the control of the individual, but said Harrelson, every homeowner can contribute to the solu tion, rather than the problem. How? By recycling organic biodegradable waste. Leaves, grass clippings, straw, weeds, veg etable and flower parts and table scraps may be recycled into useful material by compost ing and using the finished compost as a soil amendment, mulch and potting soil ingredi ent. This will improve the texture, fertility and water-holding capacity of the soil and make gardening more productive and enjoy able, he said. Harrelson cautioned that diseased plants, plants that have been exposed to weed killer, bones and meat scraps should not be com posted. Composting bins may be made from fence wire, wood or concrete. If possible, they should be placed away from the house in a utility area and screened from view of you and your neighbors. The bins need to be 3 feet to 5 feet wide and 4 feet to 6 feet high, and whatever length is desired. Two such bin* need to be constructed so that the composting material may be shoveled and rotated from one bin to the other. Start the compost pile by adding a layer of leaves 6 to 8 inches thick. Sprinkle with water and add about an inch of soil. Use either one cup of 8-8-8 fertilizer and one cup of lime stone or in their place, if available, a two inch layer of horse manure. The manure or fertiliz er provides nutrients for the micro-organisms and hastens the decomposition of the organic material. Repeat this process of layering until the de sired depth is reached. The top should be finished off in a saucer shape to catch water, as this hastens decom position. If possible, shovel the material about every eight weeks. This hastens the process. The finished compost should be ready in four to six months, depending upon how well microbial activity is sustained through proper aeration, moisture and nutrients. When ready for use, the compost will be a dark brown col or and crumble readily when handled. Pat Qut-Of-Sight Wiring In Your Building Plans. Building a new home or an addition? Prewiring your home for telephone service enables you to have telephones where you want them with the wiring neatly concealed within the wall. Call our business office earty in your planning so the telephone prewiring can be done after the plumbing and electrical work has been roughed in. but before ihe waiis yo up. Concealed wire is less susceptible to damage; and by having your home prewired all your telephone wiring will be out of signt. Ask your builder about prewiring for telephone service, or call our business office. Atlantic Telephone Membership Corp. CALL 754-4311 Your Total Communication Experts
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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March 21, 1991, edition 1
36
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