According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 30-40% of food in the United States is wasted. The non-profit ReFed estimates this food waste is costing residents $310 billion, or $1500 per household, as otherwise edible food fills up landfills and generates greenhouse gas emissions. In Lexington municipal waste collection does not have an appropriate avenue to deal with food waste. Backyard composting is an easy and efficient way to turn food and lawn waste into valuable compost that can be used for gardening. To help address this problem, the Fayette County Extension Horticulture program partnered with Lexington Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG), Seedleaf and the UK arboretum to offer a series of home composting workshops to educate homeowners of the advantages of home composting.  LFUCG received funding to incentivize our programs with food waste collection buckets for indoors and vouchers for discounted prices on compost bins. Cooperative Extension, Seedleaf and The Arboretum provided venues and presenters to deliver the programs repeatedly throughout the year. Extension Master Gardener volunteers assisted with registration and distribution. The first of the Extension hosted sessions registered 98 Fayette County residents. 

Attendees learned about thermophilic composting, easier passive composting methods, and composting food waste with earthworms. We also shared tips about food storage and meal prep to help eliminate  wasted food. In a follow up survey 97% of participants indicated as a result of the program they had increased their knowledge of the food waste stream and the value of home composting.  95% shared they had fewer fears and concerns about composting and 94% indicated they planned to implement or increase their home composting efforts. Additionally, 48% reported this was their first experience with the educational programs offered by Fayette County Extension.