Interested in waste prevention, recycling, home composting?

Free Master Recycler Composter Program returns to King County

King County residents will have an opportunity in February to both learn about composting and give back to their community by volunteering in the Master Recycler Composter Program.

Karen May, King County Master Composter Program Coordinator, said the County recognizes the huge potential for reducing landfill-bound waste by encouraging residents to recycle and compost at home. Offering free trainings to become experts at composting and recycling benefits the community and provides educational value that volunteers may be seeking.

"This trained volunteer base greatly expands our ability to reach out into communities to increase environmental awareness about waste reduction and easy guidelines for home composting," May said. "This program is an extension of the Solid Waste Division's commitment to provide waste reduction and recycling services designed to further the division's Zero Waste of Resources goal."

Participants in the eight-week program receive approximately 40 hours of training about waste prevention, recycling, home composting and alternatives to household hazardous waste. The training is free and open to all King County residents who live outside of the City of Seattle. In return for the training, program graduates are expected to share their knowledge and skills with others by volunteering at least 40 hours in the community. Applications are due Friday, February 3, 2006.

Since the program began in 1990, more than 500 volunteers have received Master Composter training. They have gone on to volunteer nearly 16,000 hours, giving classroom presentations, staffing booths at community events and teaching others about composting.

The next annual MRC training will be held at UW Bothell Campus, 18115 Campus Way NE in Bothell. Trainings will be held Tuesday evenings from 6:15 to 9 p.m., Feb. 7 through March 28, 2006. In addition, three Saturday sessions featuring field trips, hands-on activities and tours will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb. 11, March 4, and March 25, 2006.

People with disabilities are encouraged to apply. The training site is wheelchair accessible and reasonable accommodations are available upon request. Please provide two weeks notice prior to the training if a sign language interpreter is needed.

For more information or to request an application or special accommodations, contact Karen May at 206-296-4353, or toll free at 1-800-325-6165. TTY Relay: 711, or via e-mail karen.may@kingcounty.gov. To request accommodations, contact Karen May by January 25, 2006. Program information is also available at the following Web site www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/mrc.