DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — Since 2019 the Door Community Compost Initiative has been encouraging composting all over the peninsula.
- Video shows the D.C.C.I. and how they are encouraging the community to compost
- This is their fifth year active and they have grown to about 250 bucket brigaders
- There are 11 drop off zones for compost
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
"We're under the Climate Change Coalition of Door County umbrella," said Reinke.
Jess Reinke and Dave LaLuzerne explained the mission of the D.C.C.I. and for $25 community members can get a 5-gallon bucket to store their compost which is made up of items you'd throw away from food scraps, coffee grounds, cardboard to leaves.
Organizers say the mission is to create better soil.
"Compost sites want a good mix of the browns, and the greens is what we call it and so right now what a lot of us are deficient on are the greens which are your fruit and veggie scraps, grass clippings, leaves, no invasive species," said Reinke.
Volunteers who compost are called the bucket briggade.
"We have 250 buckets in circulation around the county," said LaLuzerne.
Currently, there are 11 sites for drop-off.
"Our goal is to have a drop-off site in every community. So, the commute to the compost site does in the greenhouse gases that are created by vehicles won't negate," said Reinke.
Homeowners aren't the only ones who are composting, schools and restaurants, like the Big Easy in the Village of Egg Harbor, are helping out too.
Owner Lauren Schar has been doing this since the start.
"I'm learning with it every year. I had no idea the value of the nutrients that we were just otherwise putting in a trash bag," said Schar.
She says composting helps them reduce their waste and she says, it's just a matter of placing scraps in a different bin.
"We feel very lucky to live in an area that is doing everything they can to protect why people love to come here, and they're making something that I wouldn't be able to do possible," said Schar.
If you have questions about composting or would like to know how to get involved click here.
