Composter Recycler Program

The Clark County Composter Recycler Program is coordinated by Clark County Public Health’s Solid Waste and Environmental Outreach to assist citizens with developing more sustainable lifestyles and building a strong environmental community in Clark County. Solid waste regional planning and programs are a cooperative effort of Battle Ground, Camas, Clark County, La Center, Ridgefield, Vancouver, Washougal, and Yacolt.

Clark County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on this website. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Clark County, nor any agency, officer, or employee of Clark County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system, nor endorses any content, viewpoints, products, or services linked from this system, and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at their own risk.

In offering information on the web, Clark County seeks to balance our requirement for public access with the privacy needs of individual citizens. Information that appears on the Clark County website is part of the public record. By law, it is available for public access, whether by telephone request, visiting county offices, or through other means.

clark county logo

Contact Details

Call us
564-397-7333

Composting is a way to turn your yard and kitchen wastes into soil and keep valuable nutrients cycling rather than sending them to the dead-end landfill. In return you get a wonderful Nature's miracle grow fertilizer for your yard and garden.

We offer workshops and demonstrations on how to feed the soil rather than the landfill.

Request a Worm Bin

Request a Compost Bin

Request a Bokashi Bin

Watch recorded composting workshops

mcr how to compost article

Backyard Composting

There are many systems for composting yard and kitchen waste in your backyard. You can visit one of our composting demonstration sites to see various bins and systems in use. 

The two basic backyard composting methods are fast— batch or hot composting, and slow— add as you go or cold composting. Mother nature doesn’t care which one you use. But you might! With the faster hot composting method, the end product can be higher quality— but the amount of work needed to turn and monitor your pile is more. With cold composting, not as much work is needed, but it can take several months to a year to get usable compost.

SMART is an acronym for the compost factors you should pay attention to for best results:

S:
Size

The size of your pile and the pieces you put in it. Your pile should be at least 3 x 3 x 3 feet in volume (for a hot pile). Your woody pieces of material should be chopped up to less than 2″ in diameter.

M:
Moisture

Keep the pile moist as a wrung out sponge. You can mist it with a hose as you add new material.

A:
Aeration

Turn your compost occasionally. You want oxygen to get into the pile, and to get the materials mixed. Serious composters try to get the pile hot — and turn it once the temperature drops.

R:
Ratio

The ratio of “browns” to “greens” should be an average of Carbon/Nitrogen 30:1. An easy way to measure this is to go by volume — and use 1:1. One unit of brown to one of green. An easy way to remember this is “equal parts of green and brown help to break the compost down.”

T:
Tools

Find the best compost system for you and recommendations on best tools for the trade.

Composting in Your Backyard

Lasagna Garden Composting 

Composting Using Redworms

Red wigglers (Eisenia fetida) are the worm of choice for home vermicomposting. There are a number of local resources in the Clark County area to purchase redworms. It’s always a good idea to call ahead for availability and pricing. One half pound is typically a good amount to start a worm bin with.

If you want to purchase redworms elsewhere, we recommend you enter “buy redworms” in your search engine to find the best source and price for you.

Happy Composting!

Pin It