COMPOSTWHEELS

Turning your spoil into soil

By Clare S. Richie

Think composting and farming are only for rural areas and small towns? Think again. Urban farms and community, school, and backyard gardens are on the rise in Atlanta. And they all share the need for quality soil to grow quality produce.

That’s where Compostwheels comes in.

In 2012, David Paull founded this compost pick-up service to turn organic spoil into fertile soil for Atlanta farmers and gardeners.

Renovated Loft Office Building for Lease

1,000 to 44,000 SF

Excellent Access to I-85/75 on Atlanta Beltline Custom Buildout and For Sale

16’ Ceilings • Skylights • Exposed Brick Walls

• Freestanding 30,000 SF Building

Each week, participating neighbors place coffee grounds, tea bags, and food waste into their lined 5-gallon white pail. Compostwheels picks up the organic waste, by truck or bicycle, and delivers it to local partners who trade space for finished compost.

• Loft Office, Showroom, Restaurant

For Leasing Information:

Kyle Jenks 404.239.9828

Douglas James 404.372.1280 www.ParksidePartners.com

A Joint Venture Of

“Partnership is about resource sharing,” Paull explained. Compostwheels processes waste from its Grant Park bicycle route in the neighborhood at Freewheel Farm. In exchange, the farm receives nutrient dense compost that adds needed organic matter to the farm’s urban soil. Grant Park residential customers also receive finished compost, 50 pounds worth, to use themselves or to donate to a farm, school or community garden.

Piedmont Park Conservancy has also teamed up with Compostwheels. The park houses scaled composting at its maintenance facility and uses finished compost for the park’s trees, lawns, raised beds and dog park.

“Generally, waste never leaves your neighborhood, which ensures quality soil stays local while minimizing use of fossil fuels,” Paull said.

And, in just two years, Compostwheels customers have collectively diverted 160,000 pounds of organic waste from local landfills.

Compostwheels is on a mission to educate Atlantans of all ages about the importance of composting to urban agriculture. Education and outreach take place at local farmer’s markets, schools, and summer camps. Weekend markets at Piedmont Park, Grant Park, East Atlanta Village, and Peachtree Road are the perfect venue for meeting new customers and partners.

Through school partners, like Springdale Park Elementary School (SPARK), Paull reaches students and their families. He’s guest taught the school’s environmental science class and set up two contained compost piles on the school grounds for the children to observe. Compostwheels volunteered at SPARK’s Family Science Night and led groups children and parents through the composting process. According to Paull, “more than a dozen customers now donate finished compost for SPARK to use in either land based or roof garden.” As the composting network grows and spreads throughout our local communities, Paull is confident it will have a large impact on our local food system, economy, and environment.

For more about Compostwheels, visit compostwheels.com.

More than 80 volunteers recently gathered in Atlanta Memorial Park for the Atlanta Memorial Park Conservancy’s (AMPC) rst annual Peachtree Creek Cleanup Day.

Partnering with Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, AMPC recruited volunteers from both organizations as well as the Castlewood Civic Association, Springlake Civic Association, Brandon Civic Association, Wildwood Civic Association, Peachtree Battle Alliance, Memorial Park Neighborhood Association, Friends of Bobby Jones Golf Course, Diplomatic Leadership Corps, Pollack Shores and PSREG/Matrix Residential.

Among the over 2.3 tons of trash removed from the water: a shopping cart, 37 tires, hub caps, a car bumper, clothing, shoes, metal pipes, gutters, appliances, plastic bottles, golf balls and a golf club. e cleanup e ort focused on a 2-mile stretch of Peachtree and Tanyard creeks that that run through Atlanta Memorial Park from Colonial Homes to Howell Mill.

“ is event is just the beginning of the Conservancy’s e orts to improve overall water quality in the park and bring awareness of and involvement in the preservation of our local creek, water resources and Memorial Park,” said AMPC President Roxanne Smith.

AMPC is working to create a master plan for the Bobby Jones Golf Course, Bitsy Grant Tennis Center and Atlanta Memorial Park, which will focus, among other things, on solutions to improve conditions on those segments of Peachtree and Tanyard creeks running through the park, including storm water management and ood mitigation; restoration and preservation of creek beds to prevent further erosion; and management of sewer-related issues.

More than 80 volunteers turned out last month to clean up Peachtree and Tanyard creeks. Shopping carts, hubcaps, tires and 2.3 tons of other debris were pulled from the waterways by the volunteers.