In 2019, the Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) has been working with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe in Fort Hall, Idaho, to explore solid waste diversion strategies.  The tribe has been seeking an alternative to the burning of green waste received at local transfer stations.  The Sho-Ban is estimated to burn 200-400 tons of yard waste each year.  In addition, a previous RCAC waste characterization study found that nearly 2/3 of the waste brought to Fort Hall transfer stations was general waste, much of which could be diverted to recycling or composting.   

Among the diversion strategies that RCAC has researched, two main alternatives emerged for tribal solid waste officials to explore:  composting and mulching.  While both strategies are possible, the costs of starting up each diversion strategy have been a hurdle for local officials.  Before making any large-scale investments, a local desire exists to understand nature’s processes like composting better.  Composting is a natural process that breaks down many types of typical food and paper waste into high-nutrient soil for gardening.  To that end, RCAC and the Fort Hall Solid Waste Department provided compost bins to five tribal enterprises for pilot projects in composting.  

Warrior Appenay with Sho-Ban Solid Waste and Jeremy Peirsol with RCAC supplied composters and training to the Trading Post, Sage Hills Travel Plaza, 4-Directions Treatment Center, ShoBan Cultural Resources, and the Fort Hall Fire Department for them to start small-scale composting pilot projects on-site.

Each of the five enterprises have been given a composter to try their hand at turning some of their kitchen and yard waste into soil for gardens.  “We hope that by starting small, we can have some success with composting and then maybe the program can expand,” stated Warrior Appenay.  

Each compost bin provided can make usable garden soil several times a year with good composting conditions.  Some of the tribal enterprises plan to use the soil on-site, while other enterprises may donate their compost soil for community gardens or other interested parties. 

Contact Aleena Beasley abeasley@sbtribes.com for more information.