TVCR has been thrilled to get so many families started on their composting journey through grants we have won from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and the Community Foundation of Teton Valley. Often it just takes a little nudge to try backyard composting. Once they start, most people never go back to throwing food waste in the trash. Did you know that food waste sent to the landfill doesn’t decompose to fertile soil?  Instead it decomposes in an anaerobic environment releasing the potent greenhouse gas methane which is a huge contributor to climate change. Food waste can so easily be made into fertile soil right where we create it in our homes and yards.  Please learn more about composting on our site and the many great online resources available. There is a method for everyone – even apartment dwellers. Here’s a great video showing 6 compost options.

Here’s a short (4 min) video on how to set up your TVCR bin and the basics of composting.   If you didn’t gt a bin from us, they are very easy to build with either a 6 foot length of hardware cloth and some twist ties or 4 pallets (often available free at local businesses).  Start composting today!

Here are some useful resources you can print on how & what to compost & how to avoid attracting critters:

Compost starter guide (2 pages)

Composting in Bear Country, TVCR

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, about 38 percent of municipal solid waste in the United States consists of food waste, yard waste, and wood waste. All of these materials are organic and could be spared from the landfill through source reduction, redistribution, reuse, and composting. Do you want to cut your organic waste and your waste disposal bills? Good. Check out these helpful tips.

Would you like a free backyard compost bin? We’re giving away 500 bins in 2021. CLICK HERE to get your FREE BIN. We’ll also give you helpful tips and ideas on how to reduce food waste.

Teton County wants your wood waste. Clean, untreated wood is chipped and used in the county’s composting operation, which transforms approximately 70 tons of dead livestock and waste from meat processing facilities into soil a year. The biggest challenge is getting enough wood chips to use in the operation. Please bring your brush and clean, untreated wood to the sorted piles at the Transfer Station to continue making this program a success.

Sorted waste only costs $15/ton at the Transfer Station compared to $210/ton for unsorted waste, so it really pays to separate your yard waste, scrap wood, scrap metal, noxious weeds, recycling and much more. Wood and yard waste is chipped and used in the County’s animal carcass composting program.

It is illegal to burn treated wood products in Idaho.

Teton Valley Community Recycling and RAD are happy to help you reduce construction waste. The easiest method is to SORT and separate your construction materials rather than mixing them all in one dumpster.  Sorted items delivered to the Transfer Station and put in the appropriate piles (scrap wood, scrap metal, yard waste, inert construction material) incur a cost of $15/ton as opposed to the unsorted waste fee of $210/ton – more than a 10 fold difference. It really pays to sort. Watch a short video on how to do it and download the list of Sorted Construction Materials.

Scrap wood and construction materials from the C&D pit can be salvaged every Friday for a $10 fee. Scrap metal is sold at the market rate and can also be salvaged on Fridays. Download the Salvage Permit here and pay at the Transfer Station Scale House.

Yard waste is easy to compost at home. Mulching mowers are the easiest way to reuse grass clippings. However, a simple compost bin made of wood pallets can divert and compost organic waste from your yard and garden with minimal maintenance.

Brush can be sorted and disposed of at the Transfer Station, where it will be chipped and reused. Yard waste and manure can also be sorted and disposed of at the Transfer Station where it is composted.

Noxious weeds can be delivered to a separate “Hot Compost” pile which thoroughly cooks all of the weed seeds.

We are not able to compost at the county level yet. However, TVCR encourages residents to compost their own food waste.

Reduce food waste at the source by sticking to foods you know and love, choosing smaller portion sizes or using smaller serving plates, storing food properly, and considering secondary uses for leftovers.

Feed hungry people by donating excess food to the Teton Valley Food Pantry. Feed livestock by partnering with TVCR to connect food waste producers with local farmers. This is most appropriate for restaurants and industrial kitchens, but households could also partner with neighbors who have chickens or hogs.