Master Composters Turn Food Waste into Community Action

Educators at CCE Tompkins County are training volunteer compost experts with the mission of engaging the community in smarter waste management, reducing food waste one person at a time.

Austin Beck was looking for a way to meet people and get involved in his new community when he moved to Ithaca in August of 2024. That’s when he learned about the Master Composter Volunteer program.

“When I found out that there was a specific program for learning to compost,” he said, “I was all in.”

Compost education booth at the Ithaca Farmers Market. Images Provided

The Master Composter volunteer program at Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Tompkins County got its start 32 years ago in response to a growing concern in Ithaca and Tompkins County about waste management. Modeled after the successful Master Gardner Volunteer program, and drawing inspiration from Master Composter programs sprouting up on the west coast, CCE Tompkins County, with sponsorship from Tompkins County Solid Waste (now Tompkins County Recycling and Materials Management), developed a train-the-trainer volunteer education program that would educate local residents on compost methods and best practices while reducing the volume of waste being sent to landfills.

Adam Michaelides has been coordinating the Compost Education program with CCE Tompkins County, which includes the Master Composter program, since 2001. For more than two decades, he has witnessed and guided its evolution, maintaining its mission while adapting to modern needs around waste reduction, sustainability education, and community composting. “I like composting. What can I say?” Michaelides quips.

Volunteers sign up for training and educational programming, where they learn the ins and outs of composting success from other Master Composters and expert guest lecturers. In return for the training, participants commit to 40 hours of volunteer work – 20 of which are completed during the training, and 20 can be spent pitching in at compost outreach and collection sites at the local festivals, compost demonstration sites throughout Tompkins County, and working on personal compost-related projects.

“It was a wide variety… sometimes learning the basics of composting, and other times more in the weeds, like looking at microorganisms under a microscope,” said Beck. “That part was incredible.”

Adam Michaelides is the Compost Education program manager at CCE Tompkins County. Images Provided

Michaelides underscored the tangible environmental impact the Master Composter program has had over the years, especially through its work at local festivals. “At events like Ithaca Festival and the Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance, Master Composters help divert thousands of pounds of food scraps from the landfill,” he explained. “At the last Ithaca Festival, we collected 1,650 pounds of food scraps alone, and at larger festivals like Grassroots, it can be over four tons of material. The sheer volume of waste diverted from landfills shows how much of an impact composting can have—not just environmentally, but as a community effort.”

“People don’t know how to sort their trash—they struggle to know what’s recyclable, compostable, or garbage,” Michaelides said. “Master Composters help guide them, ensuring material ends up in the right place.”

Collected food scraps are sent to Cayuga Compost, a local commercial composting operation, or integrated into smaller community compost systems overseen by volunteers.

In addition to festivals, the program supports smaller events around Ithaca, like Reggae Fest and Porchfest, where volunteers take the lead as independent event coordinators.

“There’s this need out there, begging for Master Composter involvement,” Michaelides said. “I provide buckets, signs, and tools, but volunteers drive the outreach themselves—it’s how we want the program to grow.”

“Compost education is a great example of everything an Extension program can be,” said Cynthia Cave-Gaetani, executive director of CCE Tompkins County. “Workshops, community events, partnerships with local schools and the Farmers Market, volunteer opportunities, and Adam and his crew still find time to respond to questions and requests by phone or email.”

“I’ve trained 300 and some Master Composters personally,” Michaelides said. “And I have more than 100 active volunteers on my list. Many of them stick around—some for five, 10, or even over 20 years!”

One of those volunteers, Liz Burns, became a Master Composter in 2015. “I didn’t really know much about composting before I started the program,” Burns recalled. “I had a garden plot at the Ithaca Community Garden, where we compost plant material and vegetation, but I didn’t understand what happened after I dumped it in the compost bin.”

After completing the training, Burns became a compost coordinator at the Ithaca Community Garden. “I was able to put the knowledge I learned to use. The two people who took over after me also went through the program. I can’t recommend it enough.”

Over the past 10 years, she has remained active in composting outreach, volunteering at festivals like Grassroots, Ithaca Festival, and Apple Harvest Festival. “I used to do Grassroots, and I almost always volunteer at the Ithaca Festival and Apple Harvest. It’s a great way to stay involved.”

The Master Composter volunteer program at Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Tompkins County got its start 32 years ago. Images Provided

For Michaelides, the program’s success lies in its balance of education and action.

“The educational component is so important,” he said. “Through the outreach, classes, and volunteering, people don’t just learn about composting—they experience the larger impact it has on the community. It helps people see just how much composting happens here and how they can be part of that.”

“It’s such a universal experience, dealing with the food scraps left over from a meal,” said Cave-Gaetani. “Doing better by turning these into useful material for the garden is something we can all have in common. We’ve been told that our compost drop-off on Sunday mornings is quite a social event!”

“Think of 100 people in Tompkins County with their networks—how many people can we reach? That’s the power of a decentralized, community-based effort,” Michaelides said.

Burns agrees. “The program really opens doors,” she said. “It plugs you into the larger community network, which I think is incredibly valuable. Whether you’re a novice or someone who has been composting for years, you learn so much and find new ways to stay involved.” Beck found a network of like-minded folks through the Master Composter program, and he’s excited to work on a personal composting project that combines his understanding of the compost landscape in Tompkins County with community connections and his professional skillset in GIS.

“It’s not just about learning to compost,” Beck said. “It’s about finding ways to contribute meaningfully to your community. I’m so glad I joined—I can’t recommend it enough.”