Green Port Goes Greener, Provides Compost for Port Flowerbeds

Friday, 03 April 2009

In addition to growing organic vegetables, Port employees have provided compost material to gardeners for use in flowerbeds around San Diego Bay.

"Using this natural organic compost nourishes the plants without having to use fertilizer that could leech chemicals into the Bay," said Craig Sweeting, Unified Garden Society member and Building Maintenance Coordinator.

Port gardeners recently placed the first batch of compost around plants near the Harbor Police facility at the tip of Shelter Island.

"It was good, high quality compost," said lead gardener Don Jones. "We're hoping to get more."

So far, the Port is producing about 300 pounds of dark, rich compost each month. "We've got a great pilot program going and hope to soon increase production," said Sweeting.

The compost is made from food waste obtained from Café Café Ole, located in the Port administration building. Coffee grounds, eggshells, melon rinds and leftover vegetables are put into the composter.

"We provide an average of 100 pounds of food waste every week," said Café Café Ole owner Yan Yanez. "That's 100 pounds of waste that can now be processed to use as fertilizer instead of taking up space in a landfill," he said.

Composting has diverted nearly 1,000 pounds of food waste so far and supports the Port's Green Port Program. This program unifies the Port's environmental sustainability goals in six key areas: water, energy, air, waste management, sustainable development, and sustainable business practices. Progress with composting is tracked and managed by the Port's Green Port team in the Environmental Services department.

Port staff monitors the compost quality, and also sprinkles some in planters at the administration building where an array of organic vegetables and herbs are grown by the Port's Unified Garden Society.

"Fifty percent wet material such as food waste and 50 percent dry material makes perfect compost," said Sweeting. About once a month, gardeners provide leaves or grass clippings to add to the mixture.The cylindrical compost bin is turned once a day, stirring the material to keep it evenly decomposing. A small amount of water is added to keep it moist.

Port staff visited the City of San Diego Environmental Services Department to research the selection of a compost bin, now located in a corner between the administration building and the annex.

Anyone interested in composting at home can obtain more information about composters from the Unified Garden Society or online at Gardeners Supply Company, Amazon, The ComposTumbler, and Easy Living Organics.

The Port's Green Port program continues the Port's existing environmental efforts and expands these efforts through new programs and initiatives.