[Communications] {AUA} [PRESS RELEASE] Plans Underway to Celebrate International Compost Awareness Week

[Amy Bartucci]

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

Contact: Amy Bartucci, Administrator

Illinois Food Scrap & Composting Coalition

illinoiscomposts at gmail.com

312 282 8676


April 23, 2025, Illinois Environmental and recycling businesses,
organizations, community groups and individuals around the U.S. are making
plans to celebrate the annual International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW)
coming up the week of May 4-10. The goal of ICAW is to build public
awareness on the benefits of compost use and recycling organics – including
food scraps and yard waste.


ICAW is promoted across the country and worldwide by holding different
types of group activities and events. Volunteers in different states spend
the week working to educate their local citizens in their towns, cities and
statewide about composting by holding different onsite programs and online
workshops and trainings. From compost giveaways to touring composting
facilities to planting gardens, ICAW is a fun and educational program that
annually reaches thousands of people.


This is the fourth year the Illinois Food Scrap & Composting Coalition
<https://illinoiscomposts.org/> is producing a lineup for more than
farmers, gardeners and composting industry folks. These are fun and
informative opportunities for all individuals, adults, youth and families
to experience.  “On behalf of the ICAW team, we’d like to invite everyone
out to attend these engaging and unique events taking place across
Illinois, and for all ages. These include farm festivals, garden tours,
composting application and how-to demos, plant sales, giveaways, storytimes
and so much more.  We want anyone to have access to learning more and
taking part in our Adventures in Composting” noted Merleanne Rampale, ICAW
Committee Chair.


Illinois will be hosting over 50 in-person and virtual events throughout
twelve counties. <https://illinoiscomposts.org/icaw-2025/>


Sustainable Communities Begin with Compost! is the ICAW theme for 2025.
This theme was chosen with the goal of highlighting composting in all kinds
of communities at any scale – from backyard home composter, to community
composters, to large-scale facilities to all those who recognize the many
benefits of using compost on our soils. As has been done for the past
several years, the theme was chosen by all of the international partners
who are part of the International Compost Alliance
<https://www.internationalcompostalliance.com/> – making it truly an
international theme. This year’s theme was inspired by the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goal #11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities: Make
cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.”


Here are some benefits from organic recycling and compost use:


▪ Composting reduces methane emissions through aerobic managed
decomposition, providing for a more sustainable community.

▪ Composting lowers greenhouse gasses by improving carbon sequestration in
the soil. Getting the carbon back into the soil serves as a “carbon bank,”
helping to store carbon thereby removing it from the atmosphere.

▪ Compost provides essential nutrients for plants, promoting vibrant
gardens and farms. Healthier soil leads to healthier, more nutritious food
for our communities.

▪ Compost use increases the water-holding capacity of our soils; important
as our communities are more and more often seeing drought and or intense
rain events causing soil runoff and erosion.

▪ Community Gardens and Green Spaces: Compost plays a vital role in
community gardens, fostering green spaces that provide fresh produce,
recreational opportunities, and community gathering places.


International Compost Awareness Week, a program run in the United States by
the Compost Research & Education Foundation, is the largest and most
comprehensive education initiative of the compost industry. It is
celebrated nationwide and in other countries each year during the first
full week of May. ICAW was started in Canada in 1995. Since then, ICAW has
continued to grow as more people, businesses, municipalities, schools and
organizations are recognizing the importance of composting food scraps and
yard waste and using compost to create healthier soil.


More information on ICAW can be found at:
https://compostfoundation.org/ICAW/ICAW-Home
<https://compostfoundation.org/ICAW/ICAW-Home>

To locate events and opportunities in Illinois go to:
https://illinoiscomposts.org/icaw-2025/


~~~


The Compost Research & Education Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that
supports initiatives that enhance the stature and practices of the
composting industry by supporting scientific research, increasing
awareness, and educating practitioners and the public to advance
environmentally and economically sustainable organics recycling.

-- 
Amy Bartucci
(312) 282 8676
she | her | hers

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