Portland Bureau of Transportation is giving away free compost

(APRIL 1, 2022) Spring is here, and many people start a garden. Sometimes they buy fertilizer to improve the soil. Fertilizer is food for plants. It helps them grow better.

A natural fertilizer is compost. According to Cambridge Learner's Dictionary, compost is "a mixture of decayed leaves and plants that is added to the soil to improve its quality." Compost comes from recycling organic material such as plants. People can make their own compost at home using things like food scraps, leaves, clippings from trees, and grass.

However, it takes a lot of compost for even a small garden. So some people buy compost at a garden store. This spring, people in Portland can also get compost free from Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT).

Every fall, PBOT collects leaves from city streets (more than 5,000 tons). PBOT uses the leaves to make compost. It uses the compost in gardens and parks. Now PBOT has too much compost. So the city is giving it to gardeners in celebration of Earth Day.

People in Portland can pick up their free compost at Sunderland Maintenance Yard (9325 NE Sunderland Road) from 7:00am to 5:00pm, April 22-May 1 (or whenever they run out of compost).

If you have an open-bed vehicle (like a pick-up truck or trailer), PBOT will load the compost for you. If you want to use bags, you need to bring your own shovel and bags.