The Backyard Compost Challenge
The Backyard Compost Challenge is a Boxerwood citizen science project. As citizen scientists, our goal is to investigate the collective impact households can make by keeping food waste out of the Rockbridge landfill. This 10-week project begins its 5th annual cycle in March 2025.
More than 80 local households track and report the amount of food waste they divert to their backyard composters. The households come from Buena Vista, Lexington, and Rockbridge County. This project is funded by a competitive grant from Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VA DEQ) in partnership with local jurisdictions. Registrations are due Monday, February 24th at 11:00pm.
Please note: Participants will be selected with priority given to households with children. All others will be selected by lottery.
Questions? Contact Project Facilitator Catherine Epstein: catherine@boxerwood.org
DATA. Reducing waste is important, and this study can help us determine how much food waste local households could keep out of the landfill if given the tools to do so. Your tools are your composting kit and simple project support. Our baseline data can help municipalities plan future waste reduction actions.
STEWARDSHIP. Keeping food waste out of landfills creates great soil for gardening, and it's also a climate-friendly action. Food waste decomposing in underground landfills produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Backyard composting prevents methane emissions and thus protects the atmosphere. In fact, every pound of food waste diverted from the landfill prevents the equivalent release of 1.2 pounds of carbon dioxide: a win for the planet and for your garden soil.
COMMUNITY. Science is social, and change happens when we work together. In the process of collecting data and keeping food waste out of the landfill, we aim to foster a community of folks passionate about caring for the Earth and making a positive difference in this corner of the world we call home. Thank you for being part of it all!
Divert all eligible* food scraps from all household use into your collection pail. This includes scraps from food preparation, leftovers you don’t plan to eat, and spoiled food, plus coffee grounds: whatever you’ve got! *Check your Earth Machine manual for details.
Weigh your pail with the hand scale prior to taking the scraps to your composter. Record the weight (by decimal pounds) on your data sheet. Remember to subtract the weight of your pail from your calculations, and keep your sheet up-to-date for the entire project period.
Report your food waste weight to Boxerwood each week. Each 7-day reporting period runs Saturday through Friday. Example, Week 1: SAT, March 1 - FRI, March 7. Report the previous week’s total on Saturday, March 8.
Connect with your fellow slop superstars! Read the weekly Boxerwood Compost Challenge blog post and join the private Compost Challenge facebook group.
DIVERT all eligible* food scraps from all household use into your collection pail. This includes scraps from food preparation, leftovers you don’t plan to eat, and spoiled food, plus coffee grounds: whatever you’ve got! *Check your Earth Machine manual for details.
WEIGH your pail with the hand scale prior to taking the scraps to your composter. Record the weight (by decimal pounds) on your data sheet. Remember to subtract the weight of your pail from your calculations, and keep your sheet up-to-date for the entire project period.
REPORT your food waste weight to Boxerwood each week. Each 7-day reporting period runs Saturday through Friday. Example: Week 1 will be SAT, March 8 - FRI, March 14. Participants will report the previous week’s total on Sunday, March 16.
CONNECT with your fellow slop superstars! Read the weekly Backyard Compost Challenge blog post and join our private Facebook group.
