ompost Happens

Compost Happens. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. Compost. It can be a handful of gold to gardeners, farmers and orchardists. Many people across the state just simply don't take the time to compost and will opt for an illegal method of getting rid of extra vegetation on their property by burning it in illegal burn barrels. Seth Preston Communications Manager for Air Quality and Toxics Cleanup Programs with the Washington Department of Ecology says they have an offer you can't refuse. PRESTON: This is the second consecutive year that Ecology and the Washington Department of Natural Resources have teamed up on this project. Last year we did it on a bit of a smaller scale, we had events for exchanging burn barrels for free compost bins in just two counties. He says that between those two counties they pulled in about 200 illegal burn barrels and that helped them grow the program. PRESTON: We were enthused, DNR was enthused. They were able to secure a grant from the Federal Bureau of Land Management to do another program this year so we're working with a number of counties throughout the state to put on these events where folks can come in, give us their empty burn barrel and we will give them a free compost bin in return. Preston says this is a no questions asked program with no fear of repercussions. They are hoping to cut down on the number of wildfires and pollution caused by these burn barrels. To find out where these events will occur Preston says to call. PRESTON: Give the local Ecology office a call, the local DNR office and also we're working with the solid waste department in each county so there's information about how you can get hold of their county solid waste department and ask. They also produce smoke that can harm people. Breathing fine particles in smoke can cause health problems like asthma, emphysema and lung cancer. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.