International Compost Awareness Week

By Melinda Hamilton | September 26, 2022

ICAW 2023.   May 7 – 13, 2023
For Healthier Soil, Healthier Food…Compost!

 

International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) 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. The goal of ICAW is to work together to raise public awareness on why we all should be composting our organics recycling and using compost. The program includes poster and video contests in the fall and activities and events held during the week in May. Throughout the week of ICAW, community, school, government and business events are held to encourage and celebrate composting - all types of composting – from backyard to large-scale.

The 2023 International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) theme is truly a collaborative and international effort. This year, we teamed up with the International Compost Alliance (ICA) to select: For Healthier Soil, Healthier Food…Compost! The theme was chosen based on a serious world-wide issue that every nation, unfortunately, experiences: hunger.

One of the initiatives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), is Zero Hunger: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. As part of the ICAW committee’s global discussion with our international partners around the world, we spoke the same language, and all wanted to promote a unified theme - aligning a topic important to each country while emphasizing our work with compost.

The chosen 2023 theme best reflects the goal of focusing on how compost can have a role in helping feed the world, by making our soil healthier which produces healthier food. How does compost help? By recycling organics into compost and using it on our farmlands we create healthy soils that produce healthier food and higher yields. It also reduces the need for fertilizer and pesticides, improves water quality and conserves water, as well as stores carbon in soil - helping to reduce climate change. Compost not only helps the environment but also helps to decrease food shortages experienced around the world. For Healthier Soil, Healthier Food…Compost!

 

For more information visit

www.compostfoundation.org/ICAW

How to Celebrate ICAW 2021 Manual

Here are some examples of events and activities that have been held during prior International Compost Awareness Weeks.

  • One municipality sold compost at a local mall parking lot for one day only.
  • Another had a free compost give-away program at a park which was opened to city residents only. The residents were asked to bring their own containers or buckets.
  • Many states and cities have Proclamations for ICAW signed.
  • One state organization delivered ICAW posters to all the state legislators.
  • A local radio show featured a segment on the importance of using compost.
  • One city held a two-day event, free to visitors, with the goal of connecting people who were interested in making a positive difference in their lives and communities. The event included information on backyard composting and vermicomposting and gave visitors the opportunity to talk to experts.
  • A district hosted a compost bin sale at two locations. The cost of the compost bins was subsidized by the county. Compost accessories such as turners and kitchen collection bins were available and composting experts were on hand to answer questions.
  • Another county did outreach to grade-school children.
  • One town had a story-time for young children reading books about compost and doing some gardening activities.
  • One county partnered ICAW activities to their Earth Day celebrations using the ICAW poster as the backdrop to their tabletop exhibit.
  • Someone held a Compost and Green Manure Workshop.
  • A Public Service Authority set up a booth at a Farmers Market, providing educational material on compost and backyard composting to attendees, and sold 40lb bags of compost at a reduced cost to help generate interest in Many organizations and individuals held online events in recent years including educational webinars teaching people about home composting and the benefits of compost use with gardening.
  • Social media was used in many creative ways from daily posts about ICAW to live get-togethers.
  • Zoom meetings were held where supporters of ICAW could gather and work together to get the message out.
  • Posters were mailed to legislators, vendors, customers and other supporters.
  • Pictures were shared showing people holding their posters or hanging them at work or home.