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New Website DesignWe are excited to announce our new website design is now live! Some elements will remain familiar and most of the valuable content is still available to you, but we hope you will appreciate the fresh design and find it easier to navigate to the information you need. What's New? Compost 101Most of the educational material on our website can be found here - including a new page called "The Right Compost System" to help you determine the right system for your farm/facility and how much it will cost. Our Projects page has also improved with Featured systems appearing on the main page and an option to search for the type of system that would look great at your facility. We hope our website will answer all your questions about aerated composting but, if you need more information, please call or email us so we can help: 360-568-8085 or chris@o2compost.com If you know someone interested in composting who has yet to get started, please share our website and contact information. We would be happy to discuss the specifics of their situation over the phone and see if we can be of assistance. *We invite you to send comments and suggestions about the new site design to sherri@o2compost.com.
Plan Ahead!Spring is almost here and the 2018 construction season is right around the corner. Building contractors are actively bidding new projects so don't get left behind! If you are considering an O2Compost system this year, now is the time to take action. We can help you decide the size and configuration of your compost system and have contractor-ready drawings and bid documents in your hands within a week to 10 days. If you delay too long (waiting for life to slow down a bit), you will likely have trouble finding a good contractor and you will definitely end up paying more. Contractors are hungry for work right now, but the good ones will be fully scheduled for the year come May and June. Don't put it off any longer! Pick up your phone and give us a call: 360-568-8085
Paying it ForwardNEW HAVEN FARMS Employment, education, food security, and neighborhood safety are leading social determinants of chronic disease. New Haven Farms was founded in 2012 to respond to these intersecting crises of diabetes, obesity, environmental degradation, and poverty by promoting health and community development through urban agriculture. New Haven Farms transforms vacant, urban spaces into small organic farms in New Haven’s under-resourced neighborhoods. They grow high quality organic produce and host educational programming for families in the community. PEELS & WHEELS COMPOSTING Peels & Wheels Composting was created in partnership with New Haven Farms Inc. with the shared understanding that transforming organic waste into compost for urban and rural farms and gardens is an opportunity to improve the quality of our air and soil, and grow more food for the community. Domingo Medina founded Peels & Wheels Composting in 2014 with assistance provided by O2Compost. Domingo started a collection service with neighbor subscribers and has since enrolled over 90 households in his food waste collection program. He is also an educator. Domingo works with school kids at the Cold Spring School in New Haven,starting with food waste generated by the families of one classroom. The kids graphed the pounds of food waste that they collected, learned about the composting process and made student-to-student presentations to the other classrooms at the school. Soon thereafter, all of the classrooms were participating in the program and the kids had field trips to New Haven Farms to see the fruits of their labor. They now grow many varieties of fruits and vegetables with over 50 families subscribing to their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program. This program has continued to expand and now includes:
New Haven Farms is equipped with both solar power and wind turbine power and the hundreds of visitors who tour the farm each year learn about renewable energy and the importance of good soil and agriculture in an urban environment.
Frequently Asked Question"What is the return on investment for an O2Compost system?"ANSWER: There are a lot of factors to consider in answering the ROI question. Let’s start with a few of the hard costs associated with manure management:
If you are incurring a hard cost of off-site disposal, then it’s a simple matter of dividing the cost of a new compost system by the monthly disposal fee. For example, if it costs $15,000 to construct a 3-bin system and you pay $500/month in disposal fees, then your break-even is 30 months. On a horse farm, the compost system is one of the few opportunities to save money.
Let’s say this same compost system generates 15 cubic yards (cy) per month of finished compost and you are able to sell it for $22/cy. Your overall savings per month will be $500 + $330 = $830 and your break-even becomes 18 months. After 18 months, there will be a net gain of $830 to the revenue stream.
If you are currently turning compost piles with your front-end loader, consider the amount of money that you are spending on fuel, equipment maintenance, and your time. (I’ll let you do the math).
In addition to the measurable costs associated with manure management, there are many other benefits that can be indirectly related to the cost of operating a farm. Are pathogens and parasites a problem on your farm and how much money are you spending to maintain your horses’ health? Given that the heat derived in the composting process effectively destroys pathogens and parasites, your horses’ health will only improve and your vet bill decrease with composting.
Are flies, rodents and birds a nuisance? There may be a hard cost in trying to manage these vectors, but for people visiting the farm, these are factors that negatively affect the quality of the farm experience. In addition to being an annoyance to your horses, flies also represent a health issue that needs to be considered. An O2Compost System will resolve all of these issues.
One of the benefits that we often hear about from our clients after they install one of our compost systems is the lack of odor emanating from the “manure pile” and the decrease in complaints from neighbors. All organic materials produce some odor, but with aerated composting the off-gases are very mild and the ammonia is retained in the cover layer that is placed over the raw manure. As a result, there is virtually no odor at the property boundary.
Most horse feed includes a wide variety of weed seeds that pass through the horse and end up in the pasture. One way to deal with weeds is to use a broad leaf herbicide, but as you would expect there is a cost of time and money associated with weed management. Composting resolves this cost impact – the heat in the aerated compost pile is high enough to render weed seeds harmless (i.e., non-viable).
If you are operating a stable, renting out stalls and providing partial or full-care services, the aesthetics of your farm will likely affect the monthly fees that you are able to command. Your aesthetics will also determine (in part) your competitive advantage over other stables in your area. A compost system will help you maximize your aesthetic appeal – a dumpster out in front of your barn will not.
Do you have a manure pile “out behind the barn” and if so, is it draining compost leachate into the groundwater or local streams? There is no real dollar cost associated with this type of pollution, but there is a cost to the environment. If this is the case, be prepared to receive a call one day from your county surface water department or local conservation district asking you to resolve the issue. Not often, but on occasion there are penalties to pay if the problem is serious. This problem is quite solvable with an O2Compost System. Given all of these variables, I can now turn the question around to you and ask, “What’s your Return on Investing on an O2Compost System?” An Easier Way
New Compost Systems Come Online
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