Turning trash into treasure: Seedleaf hosts discussion on composting

The question is simple: How can Lexington turn food waste from a challenge into an opportunity?

The answer is not so simple, but a group of residents tackled it Saturday during small-group discussions on composting and food recycling.

“Food has more value than just being a nutrient,” said Sarah Legas Newman in the meeting at Sayre School in downtown Lexington.

She meant that kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, peels, rinds, leaves, grass clippings and other organic matter has value when it breaks down into an earthy-smelling mix that enriches the soil.

Composting can eliminate dependence on chemical fertilizers and reduce the burden on a community’s landfill. Mixing finished compost into sandy soil helps it absorb and retain water, while mixing finished compost into clay soil loosens it and allows in more air.

Saturday’s conversation among 20 people was hosted by Seedleaf, a nonprofit organization that, among other things, promotes composting and builds residential garden beds. Seedleaf has a $20,000 annual contract with the city to pick up food waste from 35 area restaurants and kitchens to compost the material, said Ryan Koch, director of the organization. The nonprofit also shares compost with gardeners.

“I feel like there are a lot more opportunities to do composting in Fayette County,” Koch said. “I think hosting a conversation like this is a good winter’s work for us.”

Participants wondered how to develop more of a composting culture in the city. There was talk about providing information about composting at the Lexington Farmers’ Market, nurseries and garden centers.

Rona Roberts, who writes about local foods, said young people can transform the attitudes of adults toward composting.

Bill Barnes, food service manager at Sayre School, can attest to that. Students and the kitchen staff at the private school already drop apple cores, lettuce leaves, banana peels and other scraps into buckets picked up by Seedleaf to be used for compost.

“Kids are very tuned in to the earth, so it’s very easy to get kids on the program of recycling,” Barnes said. “I hear a lot of times from parents that kids will go home and say, ‘We’ve got to be recycling here. We’ve got to compost here.’”

Answers were less clear on how to deal with food waste from large institutions, how to provide incentives to businesses to compost, and what more local government can do. Angela Poe, a spokeswoman for the city’s Division of Environmental Services, said it would be helpful to see how other communities handle their food waste.

Lee Meyer, an agricultural economist with the University of Kentucky, said it would also be helpful to document “case studies” of what people are doing to compost in Lexington now.

UK freshman Viktor Halmos, 19, who is interested in environmental science, said he learned about composting through his grandmother in Hungary.

“She takes the waste from the kitchen, egg shells, and makes a big heap,” Halmos said. “And over time the pile is torn down by bacteria and then you have this really nice, rich, fertile soil that she can use in her garden. ... She just does it because she has and always will.”

Learn more about Seedleaf at Seedleaf.org. For information about upcoming workshops or to schedule a home consult, contact the organization at seedleafinfo@gmail.com or call 859-967-8865.

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Turning trash into treasure: Seedleaf hosts discussion on composting."