Over the last two months, GER3’s team in St. Vincent has led an innovative organic composting workshop alongside Luke Punnett of Chatoyer Gardens and St. Vincent’s Richmond Vale Academy. The workshop included practical lessons on the science and technique of organic composing paired with hands-on, guided demonstrations using locally-available inputs.
The initiative grew out of GER3’s commitment to sustainable, green recovery practices, one of which seeks to repurpose and, when possible, up-cycle materials and resources that otherwise would be discarded. In addition to conventional composting inputs – detritus from the forests, leftover plant material from agriculture, and manure from local farms – GER3 incorporated volcanic ash and sargassum – a type of seaweed – into the compost in a novel approach tailored to the specificities of St. Vincent and the Caribbean. In doing so, the workshop aims to shift how volcanic ash and sargassum are viewed in St. Vincent – not as nuisances to be burned or buried but as resources with positive value.
Throughout the 18-day composting cycle, the team collected data and closely monitored the progress of each pile, which varied in terms of the ratios of inputs. Samples of the rich soil produced by the composting process are now being analyzed to assess the optimal compost blend for the local climate and available resources. In harnessing the power of technical research methodologies and local knowledge, we can innovate towards more sustainable, greener recoveries.