Got Organic Matter?
Call for Community Compost
As Costa Rica pursues ambitious waste management solutions on a vast nationwide scale, one grassroots composting collection project in Tamarindo is setting an impressive example for other communities to make a close-to-home impact.
Waste not waste
In March 2021, the Costa Rican government deemed solid waste mismanagement to be “one of the biggest environmental problems” facing the country today. Even while dealing with ongoing pandemic priorities, the Presidency has brought forward national action plans that include building a waste transfer center and supporting environmental technology parks. A national composting strategy is being introduced as part of Costa Rica's decarbonization plan to improve waste management, with the goal of eliminating organic matter from landfill sites by 2030.
About 20 kilograms of food scraps have been received every week, as community interest continues to grow.
But how are we getting there?
Infrastructure development and technological advancements are certainly important. However, with nearly half of all municipal solid waste generated in Costa Rica known to be organic matter, as one World Bank report pointed out, local composting initiatives seem like the obvious place to start. The most significant and manageable progress can begin by systematically organizing the disposal and processing of organic wastes at the local level.
Although Tamarindo recently welcomed the news that the municipality of Santa Cruz was introducing a service to collect recycling items from homes, a separate organic waste collection service has yet to be established.
Compost Collection Tama
Meanwhile, with the intention to fulfill an unmet demand for those who already attempted to compost their wastes, as well as to cultivate a new habit among community members, the Compost Collection Tama initiative was launched in December 2020. The pilot program site, at Oneida Park, has been very well received by the community, with consistently tangible feedback in the form of food scraps filling up the bins.
The project started out as a campaign in collaboration with the Tamarindo Food Bank and the farmers' market hosted by Tamarindo's Integral Development Association (ADIT) every Saturday morning. Access was later expanded when the first prototype compost bin was stationed at Oneida Park throughout the week. This made it possible for compost to be dropped off anytime, with program volunteers checking in a few times a week to aerate and add sawdust.
More recently, through collaboration with PlantaE, a company specializing in regenerative agriculture, a second composting bin was donated to the project. We have since been able to increase our yield and manage the two bins alternatively.
For the past three to four months, about 20 kilograms of food scraps have been received every week, as community interest continues to grow. At present, when the bin gets full, we transport the compost to a designated area of our land to be further aged. For the future, as the volume of compost continues to grow, we would love to have volunteers join us in running the project. We would encourage them to partner with property owners for the use of vacant lots, and to incorporate farm animals.
Read more:
• Why and how to compost
• Be the change
• Directions