In my book, compost is the single best soil amendment you can add to your lawn and garden. Even better, you can make it for free. So not only is the price right, but as the person creating it, you know exactly what the ingredients are going in to make it.
But there’s a downside. Most of us only have the capacity to make a limited amount over a season or two. Even in my large garden where I’m adding inputs nearly every day, I never have as much as I need for everywhere I want to use it.
So what’s the solution? You could buy it by the bag. It’s a reasonable option but unless you only need a few bags, that can get pretty expensive quickly. The other option is to buy in bulk, which can provide a significant savings. In fact, one cubic yard (about half a pickup bed full) is equal to roughly 27 bags of compost. And of course, you could always buy enough to have it delivered. There’s never a shortage for the many uses of compost!
Either way, unlike the compost you make at home, how do you know what’s going into the compost you buy elsewhere? For me, that’s a real concern in my garden and landscape.
Fortunately, there is a solution, and it’s a good one.
The US Composting Council created a Seal of Testing Assurance Program (‘STA’) a while back to address these very concerns. Basically it’s a compost testing, labeling and information disclosure program designed to give consumers the information needed to compare compost products.
The program was also created to maximize the benefit from the use of compost as determined through a consensus of many of the leading compost research scientists in the United States.
The assessments include a pre-defined program of physical, chemical and biological tests that can be performed by a number of independent, certified labs across the country and in Canada.
Compost manufacturers apply to enroll in the program through the US Composting Council. If accepted, they’re required to regularly submit samples to an approved lab for testing their compost products.
Naturally, it’s in the best interest of the manufacturer to know what’s coming in from their feedstock, since detection of unacceptable material or levels can prevent the STA certification approval.
When a sample comes into the lab for testing, it’s analyzed for a number of properties including:
Soluble salts, pH, nutrients, organic matter, pathogens and trace metals. Two other important tests included in the STA Program are to assess compost stability (to know when the compost is finished, mature, and ready to use) and seedling growth comparisons (to know that the sample does not inhibit growth).
While these are all important factors in determining what goes into your garden soil, first and foremost, the compost must be safe to use.
Only when the compost sample passes these rigid criteria for acceptance can the product have the right to be called “Certified Compost” and use this STA – Certified Compost logo in their promotional materials.
So how do you find it? The US Composting Council has a Compost Locator Map on their website to make that job easy to find by the bag or bulk. Chances are, there’s a location near you. And if you care to see the details, STA compost manufacturers are required to have current analysis information wherever products are sold. Just ask for it.
Disclosure: At the time of this writing, I am the spokesperson for the US Composting Council (USCC). Although the thoughts and opinions in this post are indeed my own, the USCC who sponsored it compensated me in some way to write it. Rest assured that I only accept such offers when I genuinely believe in a product or service, use it personally, or believe it to be good information worth sharing with my audience.
About Joe Lamp'l
Joe Lamp'l is the Host and Executive Producer of the award winning PBS television series Growing A Greener World. Off camera, Joe dedicates his time to promoting sustainability and green-living through his popular books, blog, podcast series, and nationally syndicated newspaper columns and more.
So sad to see you advocating composts that incorporate “biosolids” ie toxic sewer sludge. It is so important to remember that sewer sludge aka biosolids is NOT just poop – it is a concentration of all domestic and industrial pollutants that go down drains and sewers. It has some good stuff in it, which plants can use, but a huge load of thousands of other contaminants. Please read what independent scientists have to say on this issue –
Three Informed Views on Sewer Sludge (aka Biosolids)
Dr. Caroline Snyder – “Land-applied municipal sewage sludge (biosolids) is a highly complex and unpredictable mixture of biological and chemical pollutants. Biosolids generated in our large industrialized urban centers is very likely the most pollutant- rich waste mixture of the 21st century.”
Dr. Marilyn Cameron – “We are concerned that farmers are not being provided adequate information about biosolids and the negative impacts that its use could have on your soils, groundwater and surface water sources, livestock health, and property values. Farmers will be the ones left paying the price for any damaged land, contaminated water, or human, wildlife and livestock illnesses, etc. Farmers may also suffer losses resulting from lack of consumer confidence in local foods”
Dr. Richard Honour – “”Few in any governments appreciate that nearly all chronic diseases are caused by long-term exposure to low levels of environmental contaminants and pollutants. We should be trying to minimize this exposure, not amplifying it. It is time to end land disposal of Toxic Sewer sludge, and look at cleaner, greener alternatives – gasification / pyrolysis.”
Let’s get on the right side of history, and use this waste resource to make energy. It is time to stop covering Mother Earth with our cities’ toxic sewage.
And see this link for a great overview of the issues – http://bit.ly/2kehQlP by Dr. Thomas Maler
A great article from Scientific American – https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/drugs-chemicals-seep-deep-into-soil-from-sewage-sludge/
Scientists against land dispersed “biosolids”
Canadian- http://bit.ly/1sb2qOP
UK- http://www.wte-ltd.co.uk/sewage_sludge_biosolids.html
US- http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.5b01931
Hi Don. Thanks for taking the time to offer up all this information. To clarify though, not all biosolids are the same, and I do not advocate for all classes of them. Although I don’t see from this article where you are making that connection, I assume you are referring to one of our website brand partners, Milorganite. I am going to ask them to provide some more technical information to point out the differences in classes. For others reading this thread, I trust it will go a long way to help clarify the reasons why all biosolids should not be generalized into one common grouping. Best regards.
Hi Don – Not all biosolids are not created equal. The land application of biosolids you are referring to is a class B biosolid. Class B and Class A biosolids are only similar in that they both contain important nutrients and organic matter. Class B biosolids are treated but contain higher levels of detectable pathogens than Class A biosolids. The use of Class B biosolids may require a permit from the EPA with conditions on land application, crop harvesting and public access.
In Class A biosolids (products like Milorganite and compost), pathogens must be reduced to virtually non-detectable levels and the material must also comply with strict standards regarding metals, odors and vector (flies, mosquitoes, rodents, birds) attraction reduction (VAR) as specified in the US EPA, Part 503 Rule. Class A biosolids can be legally used as fertilizer on farms, vegetable gardens, and can be sold to home owners as compost or fertilizer.
The term Class A EQ (Exceptional Quality) is used to describe a biosolids product that not only meet, but exceed, all Class A pathogen reduction metals and VAR requirements. Milorganite is a Class A EQ biosolid. Please visit our website for more information on ‘What Exactly is Milorganite” and to view a video on how we make Milorganite. http://www.milorganite.com/blog/milorganite/what-milorganite
Milorganite, like composts, manures, and other organic fertilizers, contains nano-levels of pharmaceuticals, laboratory produced hormones and household chemicals. The EPA risk assessments show the hazard to humans is negligible, and that these compounds are mitigated in the soil profile, with uptake into plant tissue is minimal. Please visit our website for more safety information on Milorganite: http://www.milorganite.com/using-milorganite/safety
Regards,
Milorganite
Hi Don – Not all biosolids are created equal. The land application of biosolids you are referring to is a class B biosolid. Class B and Class A biosolids are only similar in that they both contain important nutrients and organic matter. Class B biosolids are treated but contain higher levels of detectable pathogens than Class A biosolids. The use of Class B biosolids may require a permit from the EPA with conditions on land application, crop harvesting and public access.
In Class A biosolids (products like Milorganite and compost), pathogens must be reduced to virtually non-detectable levels and the material must also comply with strict standards regarding metals, odors and vector (flies, mosquitoes, rodents, birds) attraction reduction (VAR) as specified in the US EPA, Part 503 Rule. Class A biosolids can be legally used as fertilizer on farms, vegetable gardens, and can be sold to home owners as compost or fertilizer.
The term Class A EQ (Exceptional Quality) is used to describe a biosolids product that not only meets but exceeds, all Class A pathogen reduction metals and VAR requirements. Milorganite is a Class A EQ biosolid. Please visit our website for more information on ‘What Exactly is Milorganite” and to view a video on how we make Milorganite. http://www.milorganite.com/blog/milorganite/what-milorganite
Milorganite, like composts, manures, and other organic fertilizers, contains nano-levels of pharmaceuticals, laboratory produced hormones and household chemicals. The EPA risk assessments show the hazard to humans is negligible, and that these compounds are mitigated in the soil profile, with uptake into plant tissue is minimal. Please visit our website for more safety information on Milorganite: http://www.milorganite.com/using-milorganite/safety
Regards,
Milorganite
Hello Joe and fans,
The US Composting Council indeed is working on switching platforms and we have created a new map on Google Maps with our participants, and a listing of all their addresses and contact info here: http://compostingcouncil.org/wp/compostmap.php.
Please check us out and don’t hesitation to email uscc@compostingcouncil.org if you have any questions or problems!
Linda
USCC
The new link has been updated in the article now so it goes to the link you’ve shared here. Thanks for that!
Have you tried the “Compost Locator” and gotten any help from it? Maybe the site is down right now but all I’m getting is some unresponsive flags on a map.
Hi John. Yes, I have experienced similar problems lately. I have asked the US Composting Council about this and will shoot them another email today. I know they are in the midst of doing a site changeover so I’m sure that is affecting this. Sorry about that.
Joe,
Thanks for information as we all know it starts in the soil!
Do they have compost location in Ontario, Canada?
Does anyone know of a organic compost location in Eastern Ontario may purchase a truckload fo my raised beds?