DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE
WHERE/WHEN APPLICABLE
RESPONSES
LINKS

DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE:
Composting can provide a relatively inexpensive way to dispose of waste and opportunity to transform it into a useful and potentially profitable product. Good compost can contribute to the quality of soil and therefore parks, gardens, yards, and orchards in the Heart of the City can benefit from it.

Issues surrounding compost include the appropriateness of the site, potential environmental hazards of an operation, the benefits of composting to the city, other potential uses of the site, the quality and marketability of the compost, and the question of whether or not the compost operation attracts abuse such as illegal dumping.

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WHERE/ WHEN APPLICABLE: 
Two compost facilities line American Legion Highway. The City runs one operation on land owned by the Massachusetts Audubon Society and a small business called Greenleaf Composting Inc. runs the other. The Greenleaf operation is located on Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) property, although this arrangement may be temporary. The operations are almost across the street from one another.

The City compost facility is poorly signed, creates lower-quality compost, and attracts more dumping than its neighbor across the street. There is concern among some about the quality of City compost and the extent to which runoff from the city compost facility is sending harmful materials into Canterbury Brook. According to Betsy Johnson, director of Garden Futures, the City offers leaf compost for free to community gardeners.The City has received permission to continue composting on Mass Audubon property. As of January 2002, a Memorandum of Understanding was being established to cement this arrangement.

Greenleaf Composting has temporary permission to remain on the MDC land and is actively searching for other possible locations, including the Boston State Hospital site. Greenleaf has begun to use its composting facility to teach people about ecology and the benefits of recycling. The facility is attractive, well-signed, neat, and has a variety of compost.

Greenleaf was unsuccessful in its attempt to gain control over some of the Boston State Hospital site for a permanent composting operation. The Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) allowed Greenleaf to move to the site, but only temporarily, after the company was forced to leave the Franklin Park Zoo. An environmental group called New Ecology is assisting Greenleaf in its efforts to secure a new location.

At the MDC site, Greenleaf is not permitted to take in and process the food wastes that would make the compost operation far more lucrative, while also helping the City reach its ambitious recycling goals.

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RESPONSES:
Boston Compost Coalition:
In the late 1990s, a group of compost producers, composters, and compost users came together to work towards common goals in the Heart of the City. The group included Garden Futures, now part of the non-profit Boston Natural Areas Network, and Greenleaf Composting. The group lost momentum after a series of initial meetings.

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LINKS:
Excellent information about the science and practice of composting in the Heart of the City can be found on the Greenleaf Compost website.

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