Island Wood CASE STUDY

IslandWood is a 225 acre outdoor learning center that encourages children and adults to connect with nature through a variety of public and private events hosted on site. Islandwood’s state of the art campus incorporates ecological design into their facility operations and building construction to promote energy conservation, natural resource recycling, and zero waste initiatives . In their search for a closed loop on-site composting system to sustainably manage their green waste and food scraps, Islandwood knew that such a system needed to be fully enclosed, have proper odor control, and create nutrient rich compost for use in their gardening operations. They also wanted the composting process to be highly visible and accessible for student and visitor engagement.

Islandwood chose one of the first generation 14’ Custom Steel Earth Flow systems from GMT. In true sustainable fashion, the vessel was transferred from another location in the Bainbridge Island community to be recycled into its second iteration and new home at Islandwood, making this system the oldest Earth Flow in operation in the United States. Thanks to the GMT in-vessel composter, Islandwood is successfully diverting and composting all food scraps and organic waste on site in about three weeks, resulting in an abundance of nutrient rich finished compost for use in the gardens on site. The powerful combination of the Earth Flow automated mixing system, a good compost recipe, positive aeration and bio-filtration ensure the entire process is executed with outstanding odor control and no worries of pests.