Workshops to cover composting, recycling, rain barrels

Stephen Huba | Monday, February 17, 2020 4:15 p.m.

Sean Stipp | Tribune-Review

A pile of compost outside the Penn State Extention Office in Greensburg, shown in 2011.

Thinking about composting? Wondering about recycling?

The Pennsylvania Resources Council is holding a series of workshops on those and other conservation topics in the coming months.

Workshops on the benefits of backyard composting will cover methods for setting up a compost pile, proper maintenance and ways to use finished compost.

The course fee covers instruction and a compost bin with an 82-gallon capacity ideal for both urban and suburban settings. Cost is $70 per person, and pre-registration is required.

The composting workshops will be held:

March 13 — 6:30-8 p.m., Blueberry Hill Park, Franklin Park Borough March 21 — 10:30 a.m. to noon, Construction Junction, Point Breeze March 25 — 7-8:30 p.m., Phipps Garden Center in Mellon Park April 8 — 6:30-8 p.m., East End Food Co-op, Point Breeze April 26 — 1-2 p.m., Mt. Lebanon Earth Day April 26 — 6:30-8 p.m., North Park, Rose Barn May 5 — 6:30-8 p.m., Green Tree Municipal Building May 6 — 6:30-8 p.m., REI Pittsburgh, South Side May 9 — Noon to 1:30 p.m., Ross Township Community Center May 19 — 6:30-8 p.m., West View HUB May 23 — 10:30 a.m. to noon, Lauri Ann West Community Center, O’Hara Township May 28 — 7-8:30 p.m., REI Settler’s Ridge, Robinson Township June 16 — 6:30-8 p.m., UPMC Passavant, McCandless

Workshops on watershed awareness and rain barrels will cover how to harvest, store and use rainwater from the roof. Cost is $80 per person and includes one 55-gallon rain barrel.

The rain barrel workshops will be held:

April 4 — 10:30 a.m. to noon, Construction Junction, Point Breeze April 16 — 6:30-8 p.m., North Park, Rose Barn April 18 — 10:30 a.m. to noon, Lauri Ann West Community Center, O’Hara Township April 21 — 7-8:30 p.m., Phipps Garden Center in Mellon Park April 26 — Noon to 1 p.m., Mt. Lebanon Earth Day April 29 — 7-8:30 p.m., REI Settler’s Ridge, Robinson Township May 1 — 6:30-8 p.m., Blueberry Hill Park, Franklin Park Borough May 2 — Noon to 1:30 p.m., Ross Community Center May 20 — 6:30-8 p.m., East End Food Coop, Point Breeze

The recycling awareness workshop will be held at 7 p.m. April 23 at REI Pittsburgh, South Side.

For more information and to register, visit prc.org/programs/conservation-workshops/.