Training

The North Carolina Composting Council offers a varied selection of courses, seminars and workshops on composting and organic materials management.  Below are descriptions of just three of these courses that are offered yearly or every other year.

If you have an idea for a class or training please contact us at info@carolinacompost.com.

CCREF/NCCC Compost Operations Training Course
September 12 – 16, 2022

What does it take to run a successful composting facility? The Composting Council Research and Education Foundation (CCREF), working with experts from programs across the country, has put together this week-long course focusing on the knowledge and skills you need to do just that.

Over the years the Compost Operators Training Course (COTC) has trained people from 28 US states (colored light blue); 

Alabama California Colorado Delaware Florida Illinois Indiana Georgia Kansas Louisiana Maryland Michigan Minnesota Missouri N.Carolina, N.Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, S.Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.  And from five foreign countries including Egypt, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea and Turkey

Composting is critical to all people around the globe; not simply for diverting waste out of landfills, but because it sequesters carbon to combat climate change.  Compost use in agriculture builds soils making crops healthier, reducing the need for fertilizer and increasing soil water-holding capacity.  NCCC is honored and privileged to have a hand in training the composters that are benefitting the world.

For information and registration for COTC 2021 please visit this website: http://compostfoundation.org/Education/COTC.

Loader Safety & Maintenance Training

Nov 2nd, 2020 | 9:00-1pm

Learn how to operate and maintain small, compact and skid steer loaders. This course is a comprehensive, cost effective method of ensuring that loader operators receive the training necessary to meet industry standards. Trainees receive in-depth instruction on the design and safe use of small wheel, compact, and skid steer loaders; including hands-on section and tour of the factory.

Hosted by the NC Composting Council and the Caterpillar Global Training Team at Caterpillar in Clayton, NC.

This course is given every other year.

Sustainable Practices in Landscaping
JD Raulston Arboretum, July 26, 2018

Sustainable landscaping not only benefits the environment, it creates new opportunities for landscape and green industry professionals. These opportunities were the focus of a new summer conference at the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh in July of 2018.

The arboretum, which is part of NC State University, hosted the event through a partnership with the North Carolina Composting Council.  Speakers and topics were:

• “Soil, Plant, and Environmental Benefits of Soil Health in Sustainable Landscape Practices,” presented by Ron Alexander, a horticulturist and the president of R. Alexander Associates, a consulting company in Apex specializing in product development for organic recycled products.
• “Making Lawns Pop: Sustainable Practices in Turfgrass Maintenance and Establishment,” presented by Greg Harris, owner of Leapfrog Landcare, a full-service landscaping company based in Fuquay Varina.
• “Educating Customers on Sustainable vs. Traditional Turf Practices,” presented by Kevin Cooper, vice president of Cooper’s Landscape Management in Virginia Beach
• “Managing for a Sustainable Landscape: Steps to Prevent Stress, Pests, and Pathogens,” presented by Barbara Fair, associate professor in NC State’s Department of Horticultural Science and extension landscape specialist focusing on issues of landscape sustainability and arboriculture.
• “How to Market a Sustainable Landscaping Business,” presented by Bryce Lane, Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor Emeritus and Lecturer Emeritus in NC State’s Department of Horticultural Science.

The event, designed for landscape and other green industry professionals, offers continuing education credits for the American Society of Landscape Architects, the N.C. Board of Landscape Architects and the NC Landscape Contractors’ Licensing Board.

This class will be repeated in the summer of 2020.