Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Zero Waste Golf is a success!


Our Zero Waste Park at Dairy Creek Golf Course is a success.  Our first goal is to demonstrate how zero waste efforts can be accomplished at home, work areas, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc. so that we can make a global difference in the overall environment.  We are not advocating or disputing climate change, but we want to make sure that we are proacitve with our waste streams at our facilities.  Our second goal is to reduce or eliminate our inputs into landfills, inorganic fertilizers, water usage, and pesticide usage.  These goals will help us to maintain recreational opportunities for our communtiy in a truly sustainable fashion.  If you would like a tour of the facility please contact me (805) 781-1318 or jheptig@co.slo.ca.us or you can also take our self guided tour as the compost facility has been created as a park so that anyone can learn about this process on their own by reading the signs and experiencing the park at their own leisure. 

Enjoy the following pictures below of our ribbon cutting ceremony on Nov. 10, 2011.
Our display area near the restaurant, which is where many golfers enter to grab a bite to eat or drink at the turn.

Our Mission and Vision statements for our golf facility.

We started the day with a power point presentation and video to provide some background
 for our project and how it can help our communities and the overall environment.


Supervisor Bruce Gibson talking about what the project means to our County and its communities.
A sideways shot (sorry, new technology) of our demonstration site.
In-vessel composters are the true workhorses other than Richard.

Our material bins
wood and carbon sources         green or nitrogen sources      finished compost           
Mike di Milo of Integrated Waste Management Authority
presenting info about worms and vermicomposting.
Albert Nunes discussing the operations surrounding our vermicompost
and how we screen the material.

Here I am giving a captivating talk about microbes, which was not nearly as interesting
 as our worm bins for these two young participants.
Richard McConaghay and I tossing the ceremonial compost onto our screening bins.
The ribbon cutting to officially open the site for self-guided or docent led tours.

Please contact Josh Heptig at (805) 781-1318 or jheptig@co.slo.ca.us
for tour scheduling or more information.

2 comments:

  1. Very inspiring, your goal was really awesome. Lets all help save our the earth from climate change. By not being or adding to the problem is one huge step to make it happen! Happy thanksgiving!

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  2. Aksel,

    We are not necessarily taking a stance on climate change, but we know that we are having an effect on our planet by sending trash to landfills. If we can provide a site to make people stop and think about their waste streams then we have reached our goal. If we all do a little bit we can make a big diffence globally and if there is a chance that climate change is real then we would rather be proactive rather than trying to clean things up after the fact. Why there is so much arguing about global climate change amazes me because all the issue is trying to get people to do the right thing and it is hard to argue that any form of pollution is good for our planet. I understand that people do not like to change, but population density is only increasing and we need to start thinking about the future before it is too late. Thanks for looking at the blog and I hope that it has inspired you to take action or start golfing ;) Hit 'em straight!

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