Tour of Elements Mountain Compost in Salida, CO
Date: September 11, 2024
By: Isabel Lisle (Sustainability Program Manager Cloud City Conservation Center)
Rook Stavish from Elements Mountain Compost gives tour
of composting process
Curious about what happened to all of our compost from the Leadville Race Series and Boom Days? This past Wednesday, I drove down to Elements Compost in Salida, Colorado to figure out the answer to this question and understand the full cycle of the composting process. I want to share with you all what I learned.
Elements Mountain Compost
In a piece of land across from the Salida airport, Julie Mach and her assistant Rook Stavish are running a residential and commercial composting operation called Elements Mountain Compost that services rural communities throughout Colorado.
They regularly collect compost from Salida, Alamosa, Buena Vista and Canyon City from City Market, the school districts, and some local residential areas.
They also service events around Colorado, such as music festivals or events like Boom Days and the Leadville Race Series.
Composting Process
After each event this summer, Julie and Rook drove a trailer up to Leadville to collect the green rolloffs the C4 Zero Waste Team filled full of compost.
“Once back at the Salida site, the
compost takes about three months
to turn into soil.”
Step 1: First, the compost pile is mixed with wood chips and covered in a tarp and turned twice a week.
Step 2: Next, it’s turned and mixed again as BPI certified compostable products like cups, plates, and utensils begin to break down.
Rook points to new compost pile,
scraps collected from City Market
BPI Compostable certified cup breaks
down in the compost pile
Step 3: After 2 months, plastic, fruit stickers, and other non-biodegradable materials that are not sorted correctly become apparent. The temperature of this compost pile got up to 140 degrees fahrenheit during my visit due to the activity of microbes and other bacteria actively eating and breaking down the food within the pile.
Step 4: At 3 months, the compost is put into a sifter and any of these non-compostable materials are sifted out of the pile.
Step 5: Then, the compost is ready to be distributed and sold as soil for gardeners and farmers across the state, including back to the C4 farm where it’s used to nourish our fresh vegetables.
Tour Updates
Both Julie and Rook explained why they are passionate about composting.
Rook points to trailer used for collecting compost from Leadville Race Series.
Rook shared that about ⅓ of what goes into our landfills is organic waste that could be composted. When organic waste goes to the landfill, it produces methane, a strong greenhouse gas that is eighty times more harmful than carbon emissions.
So, in his mind, “composting just makes sense. ” If organic waste can be repurposed into something useful like providing nutrient rich soil for our arid Colorado landscapes, and reducing space in the landfill, he says, then why aren’t we prioritizing composting more?
Jo and Makayla, part of the C4 Zero Waste team, sort
compost during the Leadville Trail 100 race.
Julie stated that for her, composting is about bringing an awareness to individuals about the importance of waste diversion. She finds great meaning in educating people on the human component of where waste goes and its inherent value. Julie’s vision for Elements Mountain Compost is to expand and create satellite operations in Buena Vista, Canyon City, Alamosa, and even Leadville that are able to function as mini compost facilities in their own communities.
To be able to witness the compostable packaging that we spent hours meticulously sorting through this summer break down and turn into dirt, felt incredibly empowering. Thank you to everyone who stood outside of a Zero Waste station this summer to help sort waste. Your efforts are greatly appreciated by Cloud City Conservation Center, Elements Mountain Compost, and our beautiful planet earth.
Let me know if you are interested in C4 setting up another staff/volunteer tour of the compostfacility!
Compost is HOT,
Izzy