Each year, the International Compost Awareness Week Committee holds a poster contest to pick a new design for the annual poster. There is a new theme for ICAW in the US, which is highlighted on the poster as well as the dates for ICAW, which for 2022 are May 1–7. The contest is open to anyone in the world age 14 or older.

For 2022, the theme is Recipe for Regeneration: Compost

The theme highlights the overall regenerative agriculture movement and how compost and organics recycling fit into that process. Regenerative agriculture is a system that focuses on improving soil health using agricultural practices with the idea that healthier soil will lead to healthier, more nutrient-rich crops and, ultimately, less carbon in the atmosphere through increased carbon sequestration. Where does compost and organics recycling fit in? Compost, when added to farmland, gardens, yards, and other landscapes creates healthier soil and crops by providing food for soil microbes in the ground. These microbes enrich the quality of the soil while also sequestering carbon in the soil through photosynthesis, a tool for combating climate change. Just as a chef pulls together the best ingredients to create the perfect recipe, the 2022 theme, Recipe for Regeneration: Compost, focuses on the crucial role recycling our food scraps and yard trimmings plays by creating compost, which when added to soil results in a recipe that makes our food more nutritious, the air we breathe cleaner and our climate healthier overall.

Meet the ICAW 2022 Poster Contest Winner

This year’s winner of the ICAW 2022 Poster Contest is Angelo Esquivel. Out of hundreds and hundreds of entries from around the world, his entry was chosen. Angelo is an artist and graphic designer from Sacramento, CA. Here's what he wrote in his application explaining why he decided to enter the contest.

“I have been working for the past years with agriculture programs where we educate communities in the Sacramento area about different topics, and one of those is composting and its importance in creating healthier soil that will generate healthier food. Also in the last two years, I have been working with a food co-op where composting is a big part of it. That was the reason that caught my attention that I could use my skills in graphic design to help the community. The poster that I created expresses the use of regenerative practices in agriculture. it shows a farmer using composting into the crops where it creates a regenerative cycle and better crops.”

We received so many wonderful poster design entries. Out of all the entries, these were the top 14. Congratulations to these top 14 entries who rated so high with everyone who voted and thank you to everyone who took the time to enter the contest. Hopefully it was fun to create your design and it helped a lot of people from throughout the world learn more about ICAW and the many benefits of compost use and organics recycling.

For questions, please send an email to info@compostfoundation.org