Ed Burske, past-President of DC Urban Gardeners, gave a fabulous workshop on the ins-and-outs of composting in the city on March 25, 2009. Ed shared with us so many styles of composting, and the seemingly limitless sizes and shapes of composting containers! Worms, no worms, oxygen, no oxygen... you name it.

With so many options, it is difficult to provide a full overview of each process. Instead, here are some helpful links to get you started:

MonkeySee has some great video clips on composting

You won't find leaf shredders at the local Home Depot -- you'll probably have to find one on the web. Here's an example.

Other sites to explore include:
American Horticultural Society Compost Guide
Backyard Composting--New Mexico
California Backyard Composting
Compost Bin Blog
Compost Fundamentals
Compost Guide
Compost Guy
Composting Guide
Composting in Schools
Composting Leaves - Washington Post
Composting Tips -- Taunton Press
Edible Landscaping - Composting
EPA Guide to Composting
Florida's Comprehensive Composting Site
Garden Klog
Garden Web Composting Forum
Green Culture--Composters
Lasagna Composting--Cornell
Leaf Composting--New Jersey
Make Your Own Compost Tumbler
Master Composters--Ithica, NY
Mastercomposter.com
Nature Mill Composter
Seattle Tilth
Slow Cook Composting Videos
Soil Health--Cornell U.
Soil, Mulch, Compost Forum--Garden Web
The Pfieiffer Center--Biodynamics
The Power of Leaves
The Rubbish Diet
Things to Compost
U.S. Composting Council
Urban Composter
Urban Composting Guide--NYC
Urban Farmer--Vancouver

Hermione Phillips with WWF suggests the following resources for those participating in an office green team:

RESOURCES

http://www.idealbite.com/  (Fun tips)

http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=20  (LOTS of information)

http://greensource.construction.com/Default.asp (Helpful newsletter)

http://www.americasgreenpages.com/ (Eh.. Haven’t used this much but haven’t really had a need to)

http://www.environmentalleader.com/  (Interesting information about what others are doing)

http://www.ecogeek.org/  (Fun new technology…)

http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/careers/WWFBinaryitem3988.pdf  (more information about our building)  

PURCHASING

http://shop.wwf.org.uk/PurchasingCriteria.aspx  (Excellent check list)

http://www.fsc.org/  (all about FSC)

http://www.biodegradablestore.com/index.html  (I’ve heard good things, I haven’t used for WWF purchases)

http://www.greenlinepaper.com/  (We buy some of our color copier paper through this vendor)    

ELECTRICITY RECS – USGBC has some guidelines on purchasing RECs.

http://www.green-e.org/    

http://www.pepcoenergy.com/EnergyServices/default.aspx Talk with PES (Pepco Energy Services). We purchase our RECs directly from Pepco with a negotiated rate. The cost of the RECs are built into our per kWh rate so it all comes on one bill monthly. Many other providers tend to do the offsets in year increments. This can be expensive (or shall I say a hard hit to your financials if you are paying one lump sum each year.  Our RECS are 100% green-e certified. Contact information is attached for Dan Chacon  
http://www.renewablechoice.com/ Renewable Choice – Good pricing and VERY helpful to work with. We didn’t end up going with their proposal, and I must admit I don’t have too much information about this company.  Contact information is attached for Lauren.   http://www.3degreesinc.com/ 3 Degrees  - We have purchased RECs from them in the past. Steve is really great to work with. Contact information is attached for Steve.