Compost is laid down thick for Earth Day; Waste system cuts water use at center.

Byline: Paula J. Owen

LEOMINSTER - While celebrations, festivals and cleanups were going on throughout the state for Earth Day, others gathered quietly outside the Doyle Conservation Center for the momentous occasion of the "spreading of the poo" to mark the event.

With shovels in hand, maintenance technicians Jon W. Benson and Seth M. Bernatchez from The Trustees of Reservations, along with other Trustees' staff, spread a nutrient rich-compost around ruby red horse chestnut saplings and hornbeam shrubs at the center.

The Doyle Conservation Center, owned by The Trustees of Reservations, features a green building that is home to Trustees' staff and the site of workshops and training seminars.

All 25 of the center's staff members "contributed" to the composting system over the last five years. The compost was removed from two large bins in the basement that held deposits from the six composting toilets at the center installed five years ago by Clivus New England Inc. in North Andover.

The mixture was finally cured enough for use, said Trustees' Central Regional Director Dick O'Brien, and the first withdrawal was made a few weeks ago. Spreading the compost will now become an annual event, he said.

While the "boys did their duty," Mr. O'Brien explained the importance of using the system.

"It is a very important component of sustainable development," Mr. O'Brien said. "If everything goes as planned, we will be off the town's sewage system completely, which means we will not be paying fees or contributing the city's waste issues."

The Doyle Conservation Center is one of the first organizations in Worcester County to use the compost from the Clivus system for fertilizer, according to Joseph A. Ducharme, the company's general manager.

However, under current codes, recycled human waste cannot be used to fertilize vegetable or fruit gardens, Mr. O'Brien said, though research shows diseases are inert in the mixture.

The compost, which looks more like mulch than human excrement, has no odor and is low in nitrogen, Mr. Ducharme said. Wood shavings added monthly to the mix add carbon and oxygen that makes bacteria that breaks down the material thrive, he said.

The material goes through a slow biochemical transformation that promotes the growth of good bacteria while killing off pathogens and viruses that have a relatively short life span, he said. The result is a nutrient-rich fertilizer perfect for the roots of plants.

Mr. Ducharme said the center, with its staffed offices and use for public educational events, could not have been built on the site if not for the composting toilets, owing to the increased water discharge with the expansion.

With the composting system, which cost about $40,000 to install, the amount of water flow with the addition of the educational center and offices was reduced to less than the amount of flow created when only a single-family home with a standard toilet stood on the property, Mr. O'Brien said.

The toilets use 3 ounces of water per use versus 1.6 gallons with a standard toilet.

Green office buildings, McDonald's restaurants and the Johnny Appleseed Visitors Center also use the systems in Worcester County, Mr. Ducharme said.

Homeowners can also install the systems, he said, for about $12,000. They are made of porcelain similar to standard toilets and have a similar design. The collection bin that can be installed in the basement is about the size of a washer or dryer, he said.

The long-term savings of not having to install and maintain a private septic system or pay fees for use of a public system may make the prospect appealing, but the long-term benefit to the environment is invaluable, according to studies.

"It gets the nitrogen out of the waste water, which produces a higher-quality affluent," Mr. Ducharme said. "It recharges the ground water and reduces nitrogen."

But composting human waste is only a small part of what is happening at the center.

The 22nd annual Massachusetts Envirothon, a two-day outdoor field competition, will be held at the Doyle Conservation Center

May 13 and 14. Participants include 300 Massachusetts high school students from 50 public and private schools, and youth organizations across the state. Teams of five students will rotate through four eco-stations, where they will demonstrate their environmental knowledge through hands-on activities.

The four teams that score the highest in the field competition will participate in a final competition May 30 at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

ART: PHOTO

PHOTOG: T&G Staff/PAUL KAPTEYN

CUTLINE: Land stewards Jon Benson and Seth Bernatchez spread compost around bushes at the Doyle Conservation Center in Leominster as part of Earth Day activities last week.