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If ya’ can’t stand the heat, get out of the compost pile! We’ve been known to tinker now and again at the Oneida County Solid Waste Department. Alright, we’re tinkering on something new most of the time… A project that we’ve been wanting to try for couple years is now, in being tested in prototype. Like many things we try, we’re just stealing the idea from somebody else. I won’t say borrow, because if it works I’m sure not going to give the idea back! Last month we set up a small greenhouse, which is nothing special… we’re using crushed glass for drainage media and mulch, reusing plastic 5 gallon buckets for planters, using yardwaste compost for part of the growth media and, oh yeah, we’re heating the structure with a compost pile. Yup that’s right, we’re collecting heat from a compost pile and using it to heat a small greenhouse. The Dutch have been doing this for decades. As usual, we’re a bit behind our European counterparts for neat ideas, but “better late than never”, right?! Now this is not your run o’ the mill backyard compost pile. Our pile is on the order of several hundred cubic yards. The one problem for us has been low temperatures, primarily due to the compost being too dry. A little watering and our latest snow falls ares starting to remedy the dryness issue and our compost pile has gone from around 90 to about 110 degrees. Air that is heated in the pile, currently comes into the building at 80 degrees. Now we need about another 20 degrees on both sides to make the thing work, but then watch out!!! You may well be able to purchase Dump TomatoesTM or Compost Cured CucumbersTM or Exothermic Organic Oxidation PeppersTM on a refuse and recycling sojourn to the landfill next December. It’s probably a good thing that we are only in the testing stages on this… we might need a little more time to work on the trademark names. Bottom line, compost not only reduces the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, help our porous soils hold more water and reduce plant diseases, it can also provide us a renewable energy source! About the only other thing we could hope for are winning Powerball numbers… maybe if I took 6 temperature readings from different points in the pile, and… |
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©2004 Oneida County Solid Waste Department
PO Box 400
Rhinelander, WI 54501
PO Box 400
Rhinelander, WI 54501
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