Syllabus Overview

What are you going to leave with?

Learning Objectives:

• Set overarching expectations

• Overview connected job opportunities

Why should I get excited about this industry?

Learning Objectives

• Compost as a regenerative solution and why you should care

• Overview of the compost industry

Learning Objectives

• Origins and history of compost as a practice

• History, globally and locally of compost as an industry

What do you need to know about the composting process and soil health as context to make informed decisions about composting methods and applications?

Learning Objectives

• Briefly overview the foundations of soil science. Enable participants to explain the impact of compost on soil, and why different chemical and biological components matter for monitoring and applications.

• Composting as a biological process

What are feedstocks and how do they impact compost production and application?

Learning Objectives

• Overview different compost inputs and how they are handled differently.

• Explain how different feedstocks create different quality composts with unique application strengths.

• Explain how different feedstocks can be combined to get specific nutrient levels in the compost produced to support different yields.

What are the different composting methods & equipment, from backyard to industrial scale?

Learning Objectives

• Explain different methods, layouts, and equipment for creating compost at different scales.

• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each method. (Key differences)

• Explain how core functions and processes of composting are universal. (Key similarities)

• Job Skill: Trouble Shooting & Neighbor Relations

What are the reasons and practices for monitoring compost?

Learning Objectives

• Explain what compost monitoring is and why you do it.

• Job Skill: Develop ability to monitor compost using specific equipment and methods.

• Job Skill: Develop the ability to record and standardize your findings.

How do you interpret compost data and how can you use that information?

Learning Objectives:

• Job Skill: Develop the ability to read and comprehend a compost data sheet.

How do you apply compost?

Learning Objectives

• Explain some of the different methods and equipment for applying compost.

• Provide hands-on experience in application methods.

What should you consider when picking compost for a particular project?

Learning objectives

• Explain that there are a variety of applications, where different types of composts have different strengths and weaknesses.

• Highlight that the impacts of the applications rely heavily on supporting soil health, which supports a variety of other areas.

• Consider/demonstrate how different types of compost are useful for different applications

How does this industry overlap with others?

Learning Objectives

• Provide a brief overview of the different emergent industries that overlap with compost.

Why should you consider using biochar and compost together?

Learning Objectives

• Explain what biochar is.

• Explain briefly what biochar can do for soil health.

• Explain the process for co-composting with biochar, and how this differs from directly adding biochar to soil.

What do worms add to the compost process and its product?

Learning Objectives

• Explain what vermicompost is and how it is a useful tool for waste diversion, agriculture, and climate change mitigation.

• Explain the benefits of vermicompost.

• Explain the vermicompost process.

What policies shape composting, and how does that impact daily life and long term climate goals?

Learning Objectives

• Explain how the more recent history of organics processing policy has shaped how we make compost, and the challenges we face producing compost at scale.

• Explain what current policy shapes the compost landscape.

What are the different components of the compost industry on a local, national, and global scale?

Learning Objectives

• Review how compost fits under the wider waste management industry.

• Provide an overview of the different businesses involved in compost from waste collection to processing and application.

• Overview the different unions and trade organizations related to compost.

• Explain different business models and ways to market compost, as both a product and a service.

What are the opportunities, new and existing, in the compost field?

Learning Objectives

• Give an overview of new and existing opportunities in the compost field.

• Identify current large employers.

• Overview different business models for entrepreneurship. Touch on jobs adjacent to compost processing, such as compost spreading.

• Identify current regulations one would need to be aware of to start a business in compost.

• Identify permits necessary to start a business in compost.

• Review major take-aways from the course in context of the job you are now competitive/qualified to apply for.

• Share resources