Looking for a way to reduce our household waste and amend our garden soil, my husband and I began experimenting with composting. In our house, the word "experiment" is usually followed closely by the word "awry."
For example, I tried collecting the daily food scraps in an old Cool-Whip container under the sink. Every couple of days, I would take the scraps out to the garden spot and work them into the soil.
That was last summer, after we were done with the garden. Unfortunately, we took a late vacation, before which I forgot to empty the Cool-Whip container, and after which the house smelled like a garbage bin for two days.
But I pressed on. Despite my efforts to bury the discarded food, one day I looked out the kitchen window and caught my miniature dachshund feasting on the scraps.
Granted, I have witnessed her eating things that are much more disgusting than some old banana peels, and I guess in her own way, she would eventually be fertilizing the lawn -- but it was still a problem. Turns out recycling is not as easy as it seems.
So I was impressed when I learned about the efforts being made at Catawba County's EcoComplex in Vale. This emerging facility on the site of the Blackburn Landfill is a network of public and private industries that uses waste products to create energy and recycled materials.
The core of the EcoComplex is the landfill, where household and construction waste is recycled or diverted to other uses. Methane gas emissions from the landfill are used to generate energy, which is sold to Duke Power.
More recent additions to the EcoComplex are lumber manufacturer Gregory Wood Products and pallet manufacturer Pallet One, both of which will contribute wood waste to be used as fuel for a bio-energy facility.
In the future, the county plans to add a composting facility and 100 acres of greenhouse space for vegetables and flowering plants. A new bio-solids processing plant within the EcoComplex will replace the regional sludge management facility currently located in the Fairgrove Business Park.
Barry Edwards, director of utilities and engineering, developed the idea for the EcoComplex. He has discussed the addition of a brick specialties company in the future.
Appalachian State University plans to build a research facility at the EcoComplex to test plant oils for use as biodiesel. The board of commissioners is set to approve the building contract this summer.
County waste reduction coordinator Amanda Kain says that university researchers have already planted a test crop of canola.
Kain says that the EcoComplex, with so many components, has faced obstacles, but that the biggest challenge is educating the county's citizens about the facility. "Our main concern is to make sure that this project is understood," she said.
To that end, Kain, Edwards and other representatives of the EcoComplex have traveled across the county to talk with interested citizens. The EcoComplex was the focus of a recent community forum at Jacob's Fork Middle School, the second in a series of "road" meetings held by the county government.
As for my at-home recycling experiment, my husband did some research about worm composting. He learned that a relatively small container of red wigglers can process a family's food scraps, leaving castings that are perfect for garden soil.
So he and our son built a worm ranch. Now that I'm over the idea that there are 500 worms living in a box in our garage, I am glad to have a waste management solution we can all live with.
For more information about the Catawba County Regional EcoComplex, see http://www.catawbacountync.gov/events/muehlenbeck.pdf
Erica
Batten
