Free Composting Event - The Results are in!

The results are in!

The Town of Mountain Village and the Town of Telluride partnered to provide a free composting event for their communities from November 1 through November 10. The event was the first free composting opportunity offered by the Town. Thank you to everyone who participated!

The idea for the event arose as pumpkins were being displayed throughout the communities in celebration of Halloween. While festive and fun, most pumpkins end up in landfills at the end of their use. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that about 650,000 tons, or 1.3 billion pounds, of pumpkins were sent to landfills in 2018. This is, unfortunately, part of a larger issue with food waste in the United States. Food scraps and yard waste together make up more than 30 percent of items in the trash. This is concerning because organic materials (food, leaves, paper, etc.) decompose without access to oxygen, causing methane (a potent greenhouse gas) to be produced and released.

With all this in mind, the Town of Mountain Village felt the need to take action to mitigate waste and we thank Telluride for collaborating on this project.

Thanks to you – the community – Mountain Village and Telluride diverted TWO TONS of compostable materials from the landfill. Together, we avoided 2.93 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. That’s the same as:

• Removing one car from the road
• Conserving 330 gallons of gasoline
• Conserving 122 propane cylinders for home barbeques

Thank you for helping to decrease our carbon footprint!

The organic waste collected will be made into compost products for gardening and agriculture by 3xM Grinding and Compost in Olathe. The nutrients recovered in our compost bin are going back into the earth to feed the next generation of plants!

Stay tuned to learn about Mountain Village composting opportunities in 2022.