Sykesville Composting Pilot Program

1. Collect and add organic waste. Remember to balance ‘greens’ (nitrogen-rich materials) with ‘browns’ (carbon-rich materials)

2. After your compost bin is full, you can connect with one of our Composting Champions  or go to our community composter, dump, and rinse out for the next use. The community composter is at 7547 Main Street, side of the Townhouse.

3. The composting champions and Green Committee volunteers will be in charge of turning the composter over so that the compost becomes soil, which will be later used in the Sykesville Gardens or yours.

The Downtown Sykesville Connection Green, Clean and Safe Committee are working jointly with KSB to implement a composting program aimed at reducing food waste and promoting sustainable practices.

This supports DSC effort to create green spaces and support sustainable environmental efforts within the downtown Sykesville community. 

We aim to develop this program further and integrate it into the local community’s initiatives while aiming to empower the residents to become active participants in waste reduction efforts while promoting a cleaner, greener Sykesville. The program seeks to create lasting positive change for generations to come.

Environmental

By turning our food scraps/yard trim into compost:

• We transform our waste into high quality soil and use it to help the environment.
• We reduce the volume of materials that might otherwise be disposed of in landfills
• We prevent powerful greenhouse gases from being emitted into the atmosphere.

Save Money

Composting involves minimal:

• effort
• equipment
• expense
• expertise

You save money by producing a free, high-quality soil -that can improve growth-which reduces your use of pesticides

Promotes Biodiversity and Community Engagement

The process of composting supports a diverse range of microorganisms, beneficial for the soil ecosystem. These organisms help break down organic matter.

Community composting programs can foster a sense of shared responsibility and collective action towards sustainability goals.

We are also looking for enthusiastic individuals to become "Composting Champions" to grow our Composting Champion team. As a Composting Champion, you would offer your Town of Sykesville neighbors the option to drop off their table-top composter contents at your backyard composter. This is a fantastic way to build community involvement and support sustainable practices. Please reply with your willingness to become a Composting Champion.

Current Composting Champions:

Shain Marbut - 7495 Windswept Ct, [email protected]/443-758-3598

Julia Cooper - 641 Shimmering Run Ct, [email protected]/2402787796

The Wittigs - 7517 Main St, [email protected]/443-602-2017

Nikki Batista - 616 Boulder Court, [email protected]/203-512-2637

Jane Mergler - 763 Central Avenue, [email protected]/410-203-9999

Contact [email protected] to get in touch with them.

You need green materials and brown materials to do it properly. Green materials are fresh, moist, and nitrogen rich. Brown materials are dead, dry, and carbon rich.

Green Materials

• Young weeds
• Veggie scraps
• Fruit peels and scraps
• Garden Clippings
• Tea Bags
• Coffee Filters
• Leaves
• Green Plant Cuttings
• Barnyard Manure
• Seaweed and Kelp

Brown materials

• Dry Leaves
• Wood chips
• straw and hay twigs and branches tree bark
• Cardboard
• paper/ news paper
• Sawdust
• pine needles/pine cones
• egg shells
• Brown paper bags
• paper towels

Some things you can't compost

• Coal or charcoal ashes
• Cat and dog droppings
• Colored paper
• Lime
• Meat
• Grease
• Bones
• Diseased plants
• Sod
• Milk
• Cheese
• Bird droppings (from wild birds)
• Walnuts
• Cooking oil
• weeds
• ALL PLANTS SHOULD BE PESTICIDE FREE

Why shouldn't I compost certain things

Odor

• Some items, like meat, cheese, and oily scraps, can produce odors. Adding too much food waste can also lead to excess moisture and compaction, which can cause bad smells.

Attracting animals

• Meat, bones, grease, and dairy products can decompose slowly and attract rodents, flies, and other wildlife.

Incorrect balance

• Adding too much "green" material, like kitchen waste, can result in a mushy, smelly mess. Adding too much "brown" material can slow down decomposition.