Join our free event

for Dames and the public!

The Compost Doctor is In!

Learn about how composting works & local composting options.

Come with your composting questions!

To help mark Food Waste Prevention Week, join composting expert Elana Goldstein for a workshop about turning your food scraps and yard/garden trimmings into a valuable soil amendment. Whether you’re a backyard composter looking to troubleshoot, a household unsure what can really go in your curbside bin, or simply compost curious, you’ll walk away with useful insights. Elana will demonstrate how composting works, talk about various ways to compost in the region and allow ample time for questions. Any and all questions are welcome!

Date: Saturday, Sept. 26

Time: 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., though feel free to hang out afterward to ask more questions and enjoy some treats. 

Where: Newark Street Community Garden - DC Community Compost Cooperative Site, 39th and Newark Streets NW DC (20016).

Note: Directions to the compost site at the garden are below. 

Who: Anyone with an interest in composting. 

Bonus: When you register, please feel free to submit a question!

Keeping with the food waste prevention theme, we’ll also have an optional scrappy baking potluck at some picnic tables in the community garden. If you’d like, find a spice or another shelf stable item that’s gone unused. If it passes the senses test, turn it into a baked good to share!

Registration required. This event is open to Dames and the public.

Meet the Speaker: Elana is a sustainability leader at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and an advisor for the Capital Compost Network. She previously spent more than 20 years at the U.S. EPA leading initiatives on wasted food prevention/reduction, composting, compost use, soil health, climate change, and water policy.

Parking/Directions:

There is plenty of free street parking around the garden, particularly as it will be a Saturday. 

The closest metro stations are Cleveland Park and Tenleytown.  From the Tenley metro you can walk, bike, or take the C51, C61, or D80 bus south on Wisconsin Ave and walk 6 min from Wisconsin Ave and Porter Street NW. From the Cleveland Park Metro, you can walk, bike, or take the C61 bus to Wisconsin Ave and Porter St NW and then walk 6 min to the garden. 

Instructions for getting to the composting area at the garden…..

When you arrive to the garden area, enter the garden through the wide grass space with the green garden welcome sign across from 3821/3827 Newark Street NW. Continue walking straight with the wall to your left. You’ll soon see a parking garage behind the wall. Keep walking and you’ll be between the parking garage (left) and garden plots (right). The path will end at the compost area where we’ll gather. 

This Event Is Free. Donations Are Welcome.

This event is free to attend. If you're able, we invite you to donate in support of Les Dames d'Escoffier, Washington, D.C. Regional Chapter

Your generosity helps fund our scholarship program, which supports the education and professional advancement of women in the food, beverage, and hospitality industries. Donations also support our grants program for tax-exempt charitable and educational organizations making a positive impact in the food community, as well as the ongoing work of our chapter.

To donate, simply enter an amount in the donation box when you register for your free ticket.

If you can't attend but would still like to support our mission, you are welcome to make a donation through this page.

Thank you for helping us invest in the future of women in our industry.