Our Journey To Lincoln
This previous week our operations manager, Finn, travelled far and wide to a singular, coveted destination: Lincoln, Nebraska. His reason? To attend the U.S. Compost Council training course. Over the week long course he got to ask all the questions that we’ve had about our site, tour several different facilities in Lincoln, and make connections with other composters nationwide. Here are three of his key takeaways:
Our site is relatively contaminant free compared to what is generally accepted nation wide (see photo at bottom.)
At the three facilities I visited in Lincoln, the first thing that stood out at each one was the plastic. At our site, if we see a gatorade bottle in the pile (a couple times per windrow, maybe) we grab it and throw it out. The windrows at the sites in Lincoln were overrun with it. It is mostly because they are accepting packaged food products and running them through a de-packaging machine, which only gets around 80 percent of the contaminants out.
2. We need more moisture in our windrows to help the process go faster.
The struggle that facilities in Lincoln faced was that their piles were too wet, a problem that can be solved with more turning and aeration. Here, in Flagstaff, our piles have been far too dry, and it has really slowed our cook time compared to what it could be. Don’t worry, I’ve got a few ideas on how we are going to solve this.
3. Site design
Our site is in a fantastic location with a good, practical layout. But for the retail side of it, things are going to start to change. Expect more signs, improved parking and loading area, and maybe some landscaping!
Thanks for reading and we’ll keep you posted on our operations!
Best,
The Restoration Soils Team
