C ELEBRATE E ARTH
D AY WITH US !
EARTH DAY 2008
High-
Octane
Compost
- 10% off local six products and farm
direct produce
- Double beans & double alternative
transportation punches
- Local film fest at the South Store 6-9pm
with filmmaker Q&A
- One free reusable shopping bag per
customer!
- Recycled art for kids! 3-5pm, Co-op
Meeting Room, South Store & 5:30-7:30, old
barber shop next to North Store
- Free EPS(Styrofoam) drop until the truck
fills! (No businesses please)
TUESDAY, APRIL 22
A CELEBRATION OF OUR
INDISPENSABLE PLANET
North Store: 452-3115
NW 29th & Grant
Corvallis • Open 7 -9
South Store: 753-3115
1007 SE 3rd St.
Corvallis • Open 9 -9
More information: www.firstalt.coop
FUELING BIODEGRADATION WITH
A BIT OF CAFFEINE By Deanna Uutela
O
n this Earth Day when you make your run to your favorite coffee shop to get your
java fi x before your big day of planting trees, stop and think about where the coffee
grounds for that latte are going to end up. In Lane County alone, coffee shops
produce over 500 tons of coffee grounds a year, most of which gets dumped into landfi lls.
But compost specialists at OSU Extension Service have found a way to keep the grounds out
of the landfi ll and provide local gardeners and farmers with a free alternative to manure.
The OSU folks have been experimenting with the use of coffee grounds in compost since
2004. Starting out with 32-gallon containers, compost specialists collected grounds from
various coffee shops around town, which they used in their own gardens. After multiple trial
runs, the team found that mixing coffee grounds in with the compost helps to sustain high
temperatures in the compost piles, which is needed in order to kill potentially dangerous
pathogens as well as seeds from weeds and vegetables that were added to the piles.
“We found that using the coffee grounds was actually more effective at keeping the
temperature high in the compost than using chicken manure,” explains Cindy Wise, the
coordinator for Extension’s Compost Specialist program in Lane County.
Having had success with their initial trials, the team is ready to bring it to the public.
According to Peter Thurston, who helped lead the Coffee Grounds Committee, the team has
surveyed around 40 out of 100 coffee shops around Eugene and Springfi eld to see which
ones would be willing to let the public bring buckets and pick up unused grounds. It is still
too early to know which ones will participate, but Thurston believes the Extension Service
should be able to have a compiled list of participating shops by May or June. The Extension
in Lane County will then publish the list on its website and in a brochure.
“Our objective is to get the grounds out of the coffee shops and have the community use
them in their gardens,” says Thurston. “Initially we hope to provide 5-gallon buckets for
the people who want to participate until they are able to get their own. We are still testing
everything out, but it is going well.”
Besides benefi ting gardens and farms all around Lane County, keeping grounds out of the
landfi ll is just another step in reducing waste, according to Wise. “Organics in our landfi ll is
a big problem because when they decompose they produce methane, which is a greenhouse
gas that gets emitted into our atmosphere.”
Thurston also recommends that those of you who are home brewers seek out a good place
for your grounds to go as well. At the EW, a member of the editorial staff takes to a home
compost system all of the grounds from our special journalist fuel blend, for instance.
Though the program won’t be quite ready for this year’s Earth Day, for now, get your
garden ready for some much needed TLC, and this time next year helping the environment
will be as easy as visiting your local coffee shop.
BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
EUGENE WEEKLY APRIL 17, 2008 21