Residents cultivate composting knowledge during ‘Droughtbusters’ workshop
Burbank residents interested in improving their recycling skills had a chance to learn about home composting and water harvesting at a “Droughtbusters” workshop this past Saturday.
About 35 people gathered in the garden of the Community Day School to learn tips and ask questions about how to best reuse their food and yard waste as well as other compost ingredients for their gardens and lawns.
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Kreigh Hampel, recycling coordinator for the Burbank Recycling Center, demonstrated what kinds of items can be added to home compost bins, including weeds, banana peels, egg shells and dead leaves.
Home composting is important, Hampel said, because Burbank hauls about 20,000 tons of organic materials out of the city, depriving the soil and plants of “high horse-power” nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which then get replaced by less-healthy “industrial inputs.”
“When you build up these soils with high organics, it’s like trillions of little microorganisms are holding water in their own cell structure,” Hampel said. “[It’s about] keeping [them] on-site and building those soils.”
Hampel and Michael Martinez, founder and executive director of L.A. Compost, fielded questions from attendees about what they should and shouldn’t add to their compost bins, how to avoid attracting flies and the benefits of adding worms.
“The more that we learn about organics, the more that we learn about harvesting water, the better off we’re going to be in the Southland, where we’re short on all those resources,” Hampel said.
Burbank resident Oscar Mendoza came to the event with his wife and said he learned a lot he’ll be bringing home, where he has about 200 trees and plants.
“They have good information to help us to take care of our plants,” Mendoza said. “It’s very helpful.”
Mendoza said he and his wife are trying to produce their own mulch to help keep their trees healthy in spite of the current drought. He also plans to get a clay compost bin for his home.
Attendees were also able to take home for free black, plastic compost bins for their personal use.
Vanessa Millon, from neighboring North Hollywood, came away from the event not just with new knowledge, but also with a special prize — a rubber rake that was given away in an impromptu contest.
“I have a lot of information,” she said. “I’m going to go home and apply it.”
Millon is involved in a mentorship program and brought her “little,” Janette Reyes, of Los Angeles, to the workshop in the hopes that the two of them can work on Millon’s new home garden together.
“I think that’ll be a great opportunity for us to also work together and do something bigger for the environment,” she said.
Residents also learned how to collect and reuse water, including from rainfall and in their soil.
Representatives from Rain Barrels International were on hand to help people load pre-ordered rain barrels into their cars — just in time for showers that evening.
The event was a collaboration between L.A. Compost, TreePeople, Rain Barrels International, the Community Day School, Burbank Recycle Center and the city of Burbank.
Hampel said the most rewarding benefit about the workshop was being able to “link different design elements,” essentially giving attendees a full scope of how to be more environmentally conscious while helping them improve their green thumbs.
“In landscapes, it’s where the biology all starts interacting,” Hampel said. “That really helps everyone.”
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Ryan Fonseca, ryan.fonseca@latimes.com
Twitter: @RyFons
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