Dirt Factory composting facility debuts at 43rd and Market streets

The Daily Pennsylvanian
By Jenny Trang

Environmentalists will be happy to hear that autumn leaves blanketing the University City neighborhood will now have a more sustainable destination than the trash.

What used to be a weed-infested vacant lot at 43rd and Market streets was revamped to a composting facility called the Dirt Factory. June 20 marked the grand opening celebration, with free dirt ice cream from Little Baby’s Ice Cream, and complimentary food and drinks from Dock Street Brewing Co. and Four Worlds Bakery.

Due to University City’s vast tree canopy, a large portion of the trash from October to December consist of leaves, according to University City District Manager of Policy and Research Seth Budick.

“It’s kind of tragic for all of that good, organic material to end up in the trash,” he said.

UCD has hosted composting workshops and sustainability events, but “we wanted to try to do something more,” Budick said. “We have all these people who want to compost but maybe don’t have access to compost bins or a backyard.”

After gaining permission from the property owner to use the site, the Dirt Factory obtained two Earth Tub composters from Penn at a low cost. These Earth Tubs can hold up to 3,200 pounds of material and were previously used at the Moravian Court and Sansom Street retail at 34th and Walnut streets.

Read the rest of this entry at thedp.com