The City’s Waste and Resources Management office will host a free backyard composting workshop on Saturday, April 8, 2023 from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Beardsley Community Farm, 1741 Reynolds Street.

University of Tennessee professor and owner of City Possum Farm Dr. Chad Hellwinckel will teach the values of composting, how to properly turn food scraps into quality compost, and how to troubleshoot common composting issues. 

Each household that registers for and attends the free workshop will receive a countertop food scrap collection bin and a backyard compost tumbler.

“Knoxville residents are enthusiastic about reducing our community’s food waste and backyard composting,” says Waste and Resources Manager Makenzie Read. 

The Knoxville Compost Project launched in Spring 2022. Participating households can bring their food scraps to specified bins in the Old City. Scraps are then delivered to a solar-powered composter at Battlefield Farm, where the resulting compost enriches soil used to grow fresh fruits and vegetables distributed in area neighborhoods with less access to fresh food. 

In February, the project received a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Composting & Food Waste Reduction Grant, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The USDA has invested more than $9.4 million in 45 cooperative agreements that support innovative, scalable waste management plans to reduce and divert food waste from landfills. Local workshop participants will help fulfill the grant’s requirements by answering a survey about their use of the scraps bin and backyard composter. 

Workshop space is limited, and preregistration is required here.  

Visit KnoxvilleTN.gov/Compost for announcements of future backyard composting workshops and additional information about the Knoxville Compost Project.