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Ho-Chunk Nation's Composting Improves Human Health and the Environment

The community gardens are producing healthy food for Tribal members, including corn, squash, and beans.

Unlike most composting programs, which are created solely to divert waste from disposal, the Ho-Chunk Nation started its program as a health initiative to address a major concern—diabetes. In just a little over a year, the Ho-Chunk Nation, a tribe in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, has diverted more than 7,300 pounds of food scraps from landfills to a community compost site. Through this work, the Nation found a way to address not only its impact on the environment, but also the health of the community by encouraging gardening, healthier living, and better food choices.

"Diabetes is a huge health concern for the Ho-Chunk Nation, and it is addressed through many of the nation's health programs. This composting program is intended to play into those other programs by promoting an overall healthier lifestyle," stated Kevin Gunderson, an environmental specialist for the Tribe.

What is compost?

Compost is the result of a biological process that naturally decays organic materials such as yard trimmings, food scraps, and manure into a nutrient-rich soil amendment. Compost is a stable material that can then be applied to soils or used as a medium to enrich plant growth.

Compost can regenerate poor soils and help clean up, or remediate, contaminated soils. In addition, compost can reduce the need for water, fertilizers, and pesticides which not only benefits the land and plants, but also saves money.

In 2005, the Ho-Chunk Nation, with the help of a Solid Waste Management Assistance Grant from our Region 5 office and Tribal funding, created the program.  Food scraps are collected from the local Majestic Pines Casino and are weighed twice a week by Ho-Chunk’s Environmental Health Office staff. The scraps are then taken approximately three miles off site to the composting area. Typically, one day of collection at the Casino will yield about 150 pounds of food scraps. Environmental Health Office staff members also perform all of the maintenance at the composting site, such as turning the compost. Compost will be available in spring 2007, and will be distributed first to shared gardens in each of the Nation’s Tribal communities and then, at no cost, to individual Tribal members who have their own gardens. The Nation plans to expand the program to include each of its three casinos.

The Ho-Chunk Nation's composting program exemplifies the type of initiative encouraged by the Resource Conservation Challenge within the national priority area of Municipal Solid Waste Recycling.

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