Compost giveaway: You recycled it, now get the results for free

| Environment | Gardening | West Seattle news

Residents in some parts of West Seattle will come home today to find a surprise like that – 2 bags of free Cedar Grove Compost along their curb, maybe leaning against their streetfront garage. It’s the kickoff to a six-week-long giveaway promotion with Cedar Grove and Seattle Public Utilities – even if you don’t find the free compost outside your home, you’ve got another way to pick yours up – more on that shortly. Cedar Grove is made from recycled Seattle yard waste – yes, the stuff you put out on the curb in the big bin, or huge paper bags. Besides the residential dropoff, they also delivered a huge pile to the Delridge P-Patch on 25th SW. Before all this, there was a promotional show-and-tell this morning at the south-of-Admiral home of avid recyclers and gardeners Kirsten, Matt and Harrison Whittemore, who posed for WSB with cat Swaggr (note the nicely mulched garden behind them):

They are avid recyclers and gardeners. If you don’t have free compost bags waiting outside your home, you can get a coupon by going to cgcompost.com, redeemable at locations including the South Transfer Station in nearby South Park; if you don’t want to use your free bags, donate them to the White Center Food Bank, which serves part of West Seattle and can use the compost for edible gardening.

JEM April 15, 2010 (4:18 pm)

They are already out of the kitchen kits (for food waste) and the giveaway just started today. Was supposed to go through May, but they gave out all of them within 2 hours this morning.

Ann April 15, 2010 (4:57 pm)

darn. I was afraid of that.

Cheriberri April 15, 2010 (5:03 pm)

I work at the Home Depot and we felt bad all day telling people that the couldn’t redeem the coupons at our store!! Sorry to everyone that tried I wish we could take them!!

Chris April 15, 2010 (5:03 pm)

I wonder what criteria gets your ‘hood on the VIP delivery list.

JayDee April 15, 2010 (5:46 pm)

Now, I don’t know that Cedar Grove was to blame, but I mulched my beds 7-8 years ago with Cedar Grove and ever since then I’ve been battling shot-weed. I never had shot-weed before, and now it is open warfare with a torch to try and roast the seed heads. There was also a problem with Diclopyr which was in their compost for a bit–no information is on their website (no search function). The Diclopyr was from grass clipping and would kill sensitive plants. My two cents.

sam April 15, 2010 (6:01 pm)

what is (or was) a kitchen kit?
not the same thing as free compost I am assuming.

bbakeman April 15, 2010 (6:34 pm)

Here are the details: http://atyourservice.seattle.gov/2010/04/13/giveaway-of-free-green-kitchen-kits-starts-tomorrow/

And the unexpected short supply notice: http://atyourservice.seattle.gov/2010/04/15/kitchen-kit-giveaway-ends/

sam April 15, 2010 (9:11 pm)

@bbakeman- thanks !

@ JayDee-
that reminds me of something else I was wondering about. the new rules started last March (where you can include meat in your compost). In talking to someone from SPU at the snow snafu open house, we learned that the high temps. (that the compost is subjected to) kills anything that could be harmful in compost. but what about all the morning glory, dandelions, blackberry, etc. that everyone puts in their compost. how does that get broken down so that you’re not spreading weeds everywhere in the compost?

knm April 15, 2010 (9:19 pm)

Sounds like poor planning for the kitchen kits. We were fortunate to get one as we got to the Delridge location at 10:20am this morning. I heard most other local sites were out within minutes. How can the city send coupons to every household and then not have enough to last even the first day for something promted to run for 45 days? Hmmmm……

Ann April 16, 2010 (7:20 am)

I suspect the compost is to blame for the weeds. A couple years ago I spread a lot of compost. The next year I started getting those weeds like I never had. Drove me nuts wondering why. Now I think I know…

D.A. April 16, 2010 (7:49 am)

Yeah, I was really bummed to have missed out on the free kitchen kits. I’m with “knm” and disappointed that SPU sends out notices in EVERY bill to customers, then doesn’t provide nearly enough supply. Running out within minutes? That’s horrible planning. I understand the concept of “while supplies last”, but would hope those supplies would last longer than 20 minutes!

The guy in the SPU office on Delridge told me to call the number on the coupon and request more be made available. Figure if enough people ask, maybe they’ll do it.

Chris April 16, 2010 (10:41 am)

I retract my earlier comment. I’m apparently one of the VIPs so therefore now feel smug and entitled instead of slighted and overlooked. :o)

Cherylc April 16, 2010 (12:14 pm)

I’ve heard from a reliable sourse that this compost does have a fair amount of pesticide and herbicide residue in it, and shouldn’t be used on vegetable gardens. It makes sense, because if people are using those things in their yards, they are in the yard waste. And high heat and decomposition aren’t going to get rid of them. I’ll try to find a citation for this, and post it if I do.

WSB April 16, 2010 (12:20 pm)

Cedar Grove addresses the various issues from this thread on their website, including chemicals and weed seeds.
http://www.cedar-grove.com/customers/

jenny April 16, 2010 (12:51 pm)

The web site doesn’t say much about where to look for the coupons. Are they only available in the Seattle Times? Which days? Or is the coupon give-away over already?

WSB April 16, 2010 (12:55 pm)

Sorry, we were under the impression the coupons were ON the website. The original media advisory we received says they were in the SPU Curb Waste and Conserve newsletter “in late March” – if you don’t just happen to still have it around, the advisory adds, “Coupons will also be in the Pacific Northwest Magazine of the Sunday
Seattle Times during late April and May.” I am contacting the PR person for all this today to ask a few questions including what’s new with the giveaway items that ran out fast, and we’ll ask for more specifics on that too – TR

jenny April 16, 2010 (1:05 pm)

Thanks for checking…look forward to seeing your update.

WSB April 16, 2010 (3:13 pm)

I don’t have kitchen kit info yet – they’re still checking – so no separate report yet BUT I can report that the coupons for free compost will be in Sunday’s Seattle Times Northwest magazine, only. That’s this Sunday 4/18, according to the PR folks for Cedar Grove – TR

MargL April 16, 2010 (4:37 pm)

Weird how SPU is raving about distributing “1,000 kitchen collection kits in the first two hours of the giveaway.” after sending out coupons to every one of their customers. 1000 divided by 7 distribution locations is only 142 kits per site… That’s even less than the number of people who lose power during any windstorm! ;-)

They gave me a ‘raincheck’ coupon at the Delridge location but after seeing the disclaimer on the SPU webpage “There will be no additional supplies of kits.” I’ll be sure to call before making the trek over there to see if it’ll be honored.

a neighbor April 16, 2010 (6:40 pm)

Yeah…was happy to receive the bags. But after I came home from work to put them away someone had taken/stolen them. :(

Sargon Bighorn April 16, 2010 (9:40 pm)

The kitchen kits are not big deal people. It’s plastic made from Iraqi oil, stolen fair and square. Buy a stainless steel one spun in China, it will last longer and no war was required to make it. The compost however is a far more serious matter. For those in the “low rent” parts of W.S. the compost must be picked up at your own expense.

WSB April 16, 2010 (9:45 pm)

FWIW we’re not in a “low rent” neighborhood (we’re the out-of-place ratty old bungalow on the inland side of the bluffside view homes) and we have to go pick ours up too. Will just do it in the course of an errand we were running anyway. Providing we decide to buy the paper in which we can find the coupons, since we didn’t spot the ones in the postal mail!

dawsonct April 17, 2010 (10:34 am)

Huh, nice to know I live in a “low-rent” part of W. Sea. Wonder if my landlord will drop my rent so it could actually qualify as low.
—
Didn’t have a coupon (tossed it with the rest of the stuff in my utility bill), so took my bill with me to E-Green. The nice folks from Cedar Grove were happy to let me have my two bags.
I would be surprised if they still have any left; they were getting low, call ahead.

dawsonct April 17, 2010 (10:41 am)

Sargon, buying anything from China helps those who are perpetrating the war on the American middle- and working-class.
If we are providing military security for the huge trans-national petroleum companies, at least we are providing employment for the rural and urban under-classes, whose only other choices are Wal-Mart or McDonalds.
Gawd bless the conservative movement!