The Crime of Composting
Arjay's 'debris' pile
My friend Robert Josephine was convicted Tuesday evening August 18th of having debris, refuse and garbage on his property at Lake Waukomis. What he actually had was a backyard compost bin. Arjay as he is known to his listeners on KKFI’s Morning Buzz used the frame from a 12 ft trampoline. He removed the top and fastened fencing around the edge to hold the compost and aid aeration. For the last 10 years Arjay has been composting the large amount of leaves falling from the many oak and hickory trees on his parent’s lakefront property.
He asked me to be a witness on his behalf. He thought I could explain the many benefits of backyard composting since I use it. Well the prosecutor wasn’t impressed with my wisdom and he said it was irrelevant since there was a statute against composting and he would simply amend the complaint to include that charge. The judge wasn’t having any of this and believed the marshals account of a malodor fuming from the stinking pile. I had just visited the compost and found no odor what so ever which is usual for a pile of oak leaves. Essentially Arjay was convicted of composting.
According to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources…
“Yard waste need not find a home away from home. It is one part of the waste stream that can be managed in our own back yards. Solid waste management is everyone’s responsibility. Each person should be able to find new and more effective ways to lessen their community’s dependence on landfills. The State of Missouri’s solid waste law focuses on the need to reduce the volume of waste generated.”
http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/swmp/composting/compost1.htm
So here we have the dichotomy of this transitional time we live in. The guardians of our natural resources for the state of Missouri recommend composting. It appears that state law encourages the reduction in the volume of solid waste going into landfills. The US Department of Agriculture also recommends backyard composting. http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/FEATURE/backyard/compost.html
Composting creates humus , the most valuable substance on Earth. We have lost over half of the topsoil and its humus content in America since Columbus landed. We need humus from compost to grow our food in our yards because our industrial agriculture system is fast letting our soil wash and blow away. We will have to feed ourselves. That’s what Food Not Lawns is all about. Personal Food Security for you and your family.
Now is the time for cities like Lake Waukomis to guide their citizens to reduce the waist stream and reuse and recycle all of our natural resources. We need to stop burying the organic matter we needed to produce the living soil necessary to grow healthful food for our families.
Kansas City :
Article II Division 1 section 48-25
“(2) Grass, leaves, chipped brush, weeds, chipped foliage or shrub
cuttings or clippings, unharvested vegetable waste grown on the
premises in more than three organized composting bins, or in organized
windrows, greater than 150 square feet in total area and more than 49
inches in height on residential premises less than one acre in size,
or 150 square feet in total area and more than 49 inches in height per
acre on residential premises greater than one acre in size. The height
and area restrictions do not apply to composting bins or windrows on
nonresidential premises. No composting bin or windrow shall be
constructed or maintained in such a manner or condition as to emit
noxious odor, provide bedding or shelter for rats or other pests, or
be in violation of other provisions of the Code. On residential
premises, composting bins and windrows shall only be located within
the back yard. For purposes of this section, the back yard is defined
as the area bounded by the back line of the parcel boundary and rear
wall of the dwelling extending to the side parcel boundaries.”
Lenexa :http://www.ci.lenexa.ks.us/planning/CompostInfo.html
Prairie Village: City s composting regulations, contact Marcia
Gradinger at 913-385-4605
Overland Park: Jim Twigg, environmental programs coordinator, at 913/895-6273
Steve.