International Compost Awareness Week: May 4-10, 2025
Sustainable Communities Begin with Compost!
Hosting an event?

This year, entries for the ICAW Poster Contest were received from hundreds of artists from 73 different countries around the world. The 2025 winner is Abbie Sawyer from Georgia. She carved her design out of linoleum, hand-printed, and digitized it, to add color and text. The top of the poster shows off the skyline of Athens, Georgia, with the green roof of City Hall visible in the top left corner.
IFSCC’s ICAW 2025 Schedule of Events: COMING SOON
Save the date to register for IFSCC’s virtual events. All are welcome.
Link this webpage and these wonderful opportunities in your newsletters and other communications.
Legislative Lunch & Learn, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, 12:00 pm.
Grab your lunch and join IFSCC to learn about sustainable communities, food scrap, and compost-related policy in Illinois and beyond. REGISTER
Compost Café: Community Stories, Thursday, May 8, 2025, 7 – 8:30pm.
This café has the ultimate “brew” – Compost! Would you like your community to become more sustainable? This year’s ICAW theme is Sustainable Communities Begin with Compost! and was inspired by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Hear stories from communities here in Illinois, across the U.S., and around the globe, as we share a variety of strategies, and roadmaps for either beginning and initiating efforts — or growing and developing composting and related efforts in YOUR community. Speakers will share their expertise and offer up a wide-ranging buffet of stories, ideas, and how-to information to help you implement a variety of programs, events, and services, whether you’re just getting started or you’d like to expand and boost efforts where you live, work and play.
For municipalities, townships, government entities, school communities, environmental organizations, libraries, park districts, or any group or individual interested in learning more and gathering important and helpful tools, resources, and inspiration. And remember… there’s always a place for you at the compost café.
Counties and Municipalities: Will you join ICAW?
Illinois counties and municipalities are invited to join IFSCC during International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW)
IFSCC shares fun ideas on how to:
- Send a press release about ICAW 2025
- Educate residents on the benefits of compost
- Promote compost services in your community
- Host a compost bin sale to help increase diversion
- Plan events to distribute finished compost


Libraries, Park Districts and COMPOST…Oh My!
Illinois libraries and park districts are invited to join IFSCC during International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW)
IFSCC shares fun ideas on how to:
- Highlight educational, interactive composting books
- Host compost-focused events for all ages
- Engage communities in composting
- Develop compost activities as climate action

What is a BYO(B)ucket or Compost Giveback Event?
IFSCC connects event hosts with
- single ½ gallon (or smaller) container intended to allow folks to touch and smell compost
- larger volume to divide into smaller portions for participants to take home
Looking for compost? Find IFSCC Compost Processors and Resellers here:
Where to Buy Finished Compost
Look for *ICAW2025 Partners*



2025 ICAW Event Map: CHECK BACK THIS SPRING!
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[Left image] Click on [ ] in the top right corner of the map to enlarge the map and expand the legend to see where events were planned in 2024.
Below is an image of the legend for the map.

IFSCC ICAW Chair Spotlight
Merleanne Rampale – SWALCO – ICAW Chair
Merleanne has been a long-time champion of the planet and an advocate for the advancement and promotion of compost/ing. Along with her father, a biologist and conservationist who loved all things nature and the outdoors, she started gardening and composting from a very young age. On Hickory Shagbark Lake, their small farm they shared with family and a number of wonderful animals, they also grew a variety of vegetables, herbs, flower gardens, trees and fruit orchards. Merleanne works as Programs, Outreach and Education Director for SWALCO and collaborates and works with municipalities, community groups and a variety of organizations on many environmental initiatives and waste diversion efforts, including food waste and related issues. In addition to other programs and activities she coordinates for the agency, she worked on a 2 year compost grant with USDA, and hosts an annual Compost Bin and Rain Barrel sale. She has given numerous demos and presentations on waste prevention (including food), healthy homes & yards, gardening, composting, how-to, impact and related topics. She has worked with communities to implement and promote curbside programs, educated on the importance of utilizing compost on a variety of “venues”/sites, instructed groups and individuals, and educated residents about the variety of composting opportunities available along with highlighting the tremendous value of this amazing process and product. Merleanne whole-heartedly believes that compost can change the world!
