BioCycle January 2008, Vol. 49, No. 1, p. 4
Nora Goldstein

AS I was proofreading the contents page of this issue, I noticed the following: January, 2008 – Vol. 49, No. 1. In plain English, that means we have just entered our 49th year of publishing BioCycle. Wow! Time truly flies when you are doing cool stuff!
While the year ahead includes planning a heck of 50th anniversary celebration, we also have a number of exciting initiatives unfolding over the next 12 months. First is COOL 2012, a national educational campaign advocating diversion of compostable organics from the landfill by 2012. BioCycle, as media partner, is working with the Grassroots Recycling Network (GRRN) and EcoCycle, a recycling and composting organization in Boulder, Colorado, to lay the groundwork for the COOL 2012 campaign. The official launch is at the BioCycle West Coast Conference during a preconference workshop on Sunday, April 13, 2008 (see entire conference agenda preview starting on page 8 of this issue). The conference continues with sessions that will guide communities on how to divert organics from landfills by 2012. Details on the COOL 2012 campaign will be on-line soon at www.grrn.org (and via links from www.biocycle.net and www.ecocycle.org).
This January issue of BioCycle features a new article series for 2008: “Nuts & Bolts.” The first article focuses on grinders (see page 39). BioCycle editors interviewed composters and mulch producers who recently purchased grinders for their operations. We asked what criteria they used for evaluating equipment options. In turn, we asked manufacturers what questions they are asked most frequently, how they respond and what potential buyers look for during demos. One insight we gained during the interviews was the growing interest in electric-powered grinders, both to save on diesel fuel costs and to help meet emissions limits. As always, we will be poking more at trends like these over the year.
Another new editorial feature will start next month. “Operator Insights” explores critical issues for composting operations. The first article will look at managing storm water runoff. This topic is of great interest not just to site operators, but to regulators as well. Future installments include odor and emissions management, compostable products, process control and monitoring, buildings and corrosion control, and contaminant removal. We welcome readers’ suggestions for other topics to explore in “Operator Insights.”
Also, in the year ahead we will continue our aggressive coverage of renewable energy from organics recycling. BioCycle’s 8th Annual Renewable Energy Conference will be held October 6 – 8, 2008 in Madison, Wisconsin. We also are working with the Northwest Biosolids Management Association to add a BioCycle Energy workshop onto their annual BioFest conference (September 7 – 10, 2008 in Skamania, Washington).
The beginning of 2008 also marked the end of publishing In Business, the magazine for creating sustainable enterprises and communities. Founded in 1979 by Jerry Goldstein, In Business embodied the entrepreneurial spirit of for profits and nonprofits committed to sustainability. We plan to cover many of the topics discussed in In Business in the pages of BioCycle.
So, as 2008 unfolds, we are excited about embracing the opportunities and tackling the challenges that together describe our world of composting, organics recycling and renewable energy.