How to Get Involved & Upcoming Events

Across the United States and around the world, composting advocates will be encouraging everyone to use compost and recycle their organics during ICAW 2024 May 5 - 11, 2024. Those who believe in the “Compost Message” will be planning events in their community to promote the value of compost. All types of composting — from “do it yourself” composting in your backyard to large-scale community-wide composting — are promoted during the week.

The theme for 2024 is COMPOST…Nature’s Climate Champion which opens up lots of opportunities for planning fun and educational activities.

Here are some examples of events and activities that have been held during prior International Compost Awareness Weeks. Some of the events are for more traditional outside, group activities but if that’s not possible, there are lots of ways to get the message out using social media, webinars, videos and other creative ways that people came up.

Let us know if you need more ideas (contact us at info@compostfoundation.org) and please share with us by entering your plans for your ICAW event as soon as you know it in the Enter Your Event box on the right side of this page. Someone in another community might want to do a similar event as yours, so the more events we have added to the list, the better. Here are some events that have been held in the past:

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.
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.
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.