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YouTubeI was wondering if anyone has heard anything about local residents starting their own yard-waste programs similar to what is going on in German Village.
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Q&A
Yard Waste
[19 posts] [9 contributors]
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Matthew
Hilltop
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I read about the guy in GV doing the yard waste and did the numbers. He said he has about 200 customers per day, 3 days a week. He sells his stickers in sheets of 30, and each sticker costs 2 bucks. With just 600 customers a week one could make a hell of a living doing this.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Dcross
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I wrote the story you are referring to. He has 200 customers total and doesn't want to expand upon that. He picks up the waste twice a week and is considering moving into Merion Village. I wondering why this hasn't caught on. I thought Clintonville would be a location where another smart person would start something similar. Another poster mentioned that people could make composts. I neighborhood compost would be a good idea too.
Posted 3 years ago # -
lifeontwowheels
Highland West
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lifeontwowheels
Highland West
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Rainwater (rain barrels)?
I don't think containers would be difficult. A lot of great plans for cheap, easy composters using various recycled materials.
Posted 3 years ago # -
misskitty
Columbus
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Could the containers be made of wood? like big boxes? I don't know a lot about composting thats why I am asking but if so you could see about getting maybe people in the area to donate scrap wood or maybe a lumber yard. I would be down to help build something like that .
Posted 3 years ago # -
Dcross
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Have any of you been to the pocket park in Ganther's Place. I can't remember if it has a compost but I know the water in the pocket park comes from rain barrel made of green plastic with mesh over the top. If you haven't heard about the little park, the story behind it is really good.
Posted 3 years ago # -
chrisgillespie
Short North/Victorian Village
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I compost. My bins are made of recycled wood pallets, with cedar slats on front. It's my own design, but it's really just a morph of a couple of pretty standard wood compost bin designs that can be found in many books and websites. Here's a picture from about a year ago:
If you setup a community garden, bins setup with concrete blocks can be a great way to go, too.
Composting is pretty easy. I have a lot of trees, and the equivalent of about 20 bags of leaves per year. I also have a lot of garden trimmings. I add vegetable scraps from myself and my husband. The 20 bags of leaves, other yard waste, and vegetables break down to about a cubic square yard of compost within a year. This is because I turn and water regularly (I have a rain barrel from my garage near the compost pile). If you don't water, and you run out of water, at least it won't get smelly -- but dry compost won't continue to break down. So, a limited water supply is OK, as long as you don't need super fast compost. I have a 2 bin system, because I didn't have room for 3 in this yard, but a 3 bin system allows for an easier better process, if you have room.
Just yesterday, I threw the contents of one years worth of scraps into one of the bins, where it will sit and finish until I put it out this fall (I'll try to remember to take a picture tomorrow). The other bin will be filled with the remaining leaves that I rake from the yard in another week or 2. Recently, I've had more greens, since Cyclist has been adding his and LaChewla's scraps for a few months. Given this added green material, I may actually be looking for more browns (leaves) this year. Although, my dad is giving me a compost tumbler that he is no longer using, so that might take care of the added materials.
SO....yes, it's very possible to break down a very large quantity of leaves to a very small amount of "black gold" with bins made from recycled wood materials in a small space like a community garden - especially if you have a nice balance of browns and greens, if you keep it lightly watered (not drenched, which would become anaerobic -- read smelly), and especially if you mix it regularly. Pallets can be easy to come by, or even free. Before my current bins, I had bins made exclusively of pallets (not as pretty as the nice cedar fronts on these). I'd be happy to show anyone in the Victorian Village area the bins in person and help you get started. Just PM me.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Kerry
Merion Village
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Dcross wrote >>
I believe they are in discussion of working with the business from German Village that is picking up trash, but that's a start. Thank you for the help. I've seen one or two people on Craig's List...didn't know if anyone else knew of anyone.It was my understanding at the MVA meeting last week that the Association would be coordinating a couple of yard waste drop off days where the Merion Village residents could bring their bags to the Info Center and the MVA would have trucks coordinated to take it to be composted.
There is a local business that is great for rain barrels and composting needs:
Posted 3 years ago # -
Matthew
Hilltop
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I may start offering this service myself. Okay, so 200 customers, sheets of 30 stickers at 2 dollars each. Still...do the math. I have a truck, finding a job lately has been hell. I'm really considering it. Anyone know the downside to the business?
Posted 3 years ago # -
berdawn
near that stretch of N. High Street in the Short North
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I don't generate a lot of yard waste in the summer, but I did a little work and my bags are starting to disintegrate. I phoned to set up collection. The price is reasonable (to someone who doesn't want to schlep crap) but they charge a $3 convenience fee to place my order by phone which seems, somehow, the epitome of bad customer service: there is no corresponding fee for using a debit card number by mail. The service year ends October 20th so I would need to pay an additional $50...wait, $49.50 plus my "convenience fee" (in addition to my $50 not schlepping the crap myself convenience fee) on October 21. I will NOT be signing up for the service and have cold hatred in my heart now for all things Rumpke. It makes me want to throw my recyclables into the trash bin.
Posted 2 years ago # -
chrisgillespie
Short North/Victorian Village
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Berdawn,
I hope you won't throw your recyclables into the trash bin, nor your yard waste. I feel your frustration, tho. If you have even a small yard, you can probably setup composting in your yard, and I'd be happy to help you get started. In the case that really doesn't interest you (and I'm guessing it doesn't), I've sent a request to a friend of mine who is very active in the community in Weinland Park. I asked if maybe it would be possible to put your compost in a community garden bin in the area, and she has given me the name of the person who was running a community garden and is posing that question to him. She is also having the president of the WP Civic Assn post the question to a listserv about maybe setting up community composting in WP. I'll send you a PM with the specific information that she gave to me. It might help out for now.
Posted 2 years ago # -
berdawn
near that stretch of N. High Street in the Short North
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Thanks, Chris. I won't stop recycling and won't be pitching any yard waste into the dumpsters. Mostly just venting about what appears to be a rather poorly designed (for consumers) process. I get the WP listserv now, so I'll keep an eye out!
Posted 2 years ago # -
chrisgillespie
Short North/Victorian Village
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I hear ya, Berdawn. That's what I figured. Hopefully, this will get the ball rolling on something cool for the neighborhood. Best of luck with all of this...
Posted 2 years ago #
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