Fertile Morning
Drive up a winding road above Griffith Park’s Travel Town and spend a Saturday morning at a tree-shaded outdoor classroom. Then drive home with the latest in backyard “green waste” recycling equipment purchased at bargain prices.
If that sounds like an original way to spend a weekend morning, check out the Griffith Park Compost Education Center on Saturday for a composting workshop and bin sale.
Attendance is free for the instructional part of the workshop. But because the city of Los Angeles is subsidizing the purchase price of the composting equipment, buyers have to present proof of city residency to take advantage of the bargain prices. A utility bill or driver’s license will work as proof.
Prices range from $20 to $40 for items that normally retail for $60 to $100. Some assembly is required, but the equipment can be carried away in the trunk of a family car.
Richard and Launa Prince of Van Nuys attended a recent workshop after reading about it and becoming intrigued.
“We were also intrigued by the ideas suggested about sharing [trimmings] with neighbors,” said Launa, a church worker.
The Princes learned from city composting expert Ben Novida that the process involves mixing alternate layers of “green” and “brown” yard trimmings to create about a cubic yard of material suitable for composting.
They also discovered that they have a lawn and plantings that produce mostly green trimmings and they would have to develop a relationship with neighbors who have mostly brown trimmings.
The resulting compost, when used on a lawn or garden, can “keep weeds down,” as Launa put it. Workshop participants receive free instructional material on methods and benefits of backyard composting. A city-operated site next to the outdoor classroom produces 1,500 tons of compost a day for use as soil amendment at public and private facilities throughout Los Angeles. After the workshop, participants can take a walking tour of the facility.
Doug Walters, manager of the Saturday workshops, said the city’s program to promote backyard composting may soon achieve a 50% reduction in the amount of “green waste” sent to city landfills.
BE THERE
Composting Workshop and Bin Sale, Griffith Park composting facility, 5400 Griffith Park Drive, Los Angeles. Saturday, 10-11:30 a.m. (also Sept. 25, Oct. 23 and Nov. 27). Free to city residents.
