About Us @ www.mastercomposter.com™

Recent Changes to Our Site (Posted August 10, 2008)

It's nice to be back! I'm in the process of updating the site. I have made a "Wish List" below of things I know need to be done, so please be patient -- I'm working on it. I have had to make some changes to how things work, and will have to make more as I go along. Don't take any of these changes personally (no, I'm not kidding, some people get very upset when I change things). There are three very big changes right off the bat: [1] method for Contacting Us, [2] no purchases directly from www.mastercomposter.com, and [3] getting access to the Password-Protected Area. The site's Terms of Use have been updated, so you should be sure to review those as well.

[1] The amount of spam email I receive is ridiculous. This is true for most people, but when you publish your email address on a web site, the spam multiplies faster than rabbits. I can hardly find legitimate messages, and when I do find them, almost every one asks a question that has already been answered on our Contact Us page. So, I've decided to go to snail mail to encourage people to actually read the Contact Us page and Home Page.

[2] For now, I'm not selling anything directly from the web site. I don't have the resources available to handle payment processing, inventory, and delivery of goods. If we have teleclasses this fall, I will make an exception, but for now, there will be no products available directly from www.mastercomposter.com. The web site states where you can obtain our products from other vendors.

[3] As before, some of the web site will be available to the general public, while most of the content and reference pages will be password-protected. Access to these password-protected pages is available as a gift-with-purchase offer.

If you are just here to learn how to compost, you can skip this paragraph. It's personal information for old friends who haven't heard from me in a while. Those of you who have been around a long time know that I developed a serious health problem several years ago that restricted the effort I was able to give to the web site, then my doctors engineered a major improvement in my health in 2005. I realized that it would be awhile before I had the energy required to be an entrepreneur again, so I was going to close the web site (by far the easiest, least expensive thing to do) and go to work for someone else. But then I looked at the site's traffic numbers -- roughly 2000 unique site visitors per day! I figured that if that many people found the site useful, I would keep it open, even though I became employed elsewhere full-time. As problems came up that I didn't have time and resources to handle, I had to shut down parts of the site. Sometimes I was able to do so gracefully and sometimes not. I apologize for the less-than-graceful times, I'm trying to make amends for those situations. Anyway, my health is good, my day-job is good, and life has finally calmed down enough that I feel I'm able to open the site again. Thank you all for your support; I appreciate your good thoughts and prayers. I needed every one.

Wish List (Posted August 10, 2008)

I'm in the process of updating the site. I have made a "Wish List" below of things that are on my "To Do" list. Please be patient.

• Adding more vendors in addition to Booklocker.com whose invoices are valid for Gift-with-Purchase Access offer - I want you to have a choice of vendors to purchase our products from. I am in the process of arranging for more vendors to be included in the Gift-with-Purchase Offer.
• Surveys - I used to do surveys rather regularly. The results are still interesting even though the most recent was published in 2005. The Coffee and Leaf reports were hard copy reports, so I plan to scan them in to a digital format. The Compost Tea report is now several years old, so I'm going to get that on the site for free, too.
• Teleclasses - I don't have teleclasses scheduled yet. Probably we can do that in the fall. I'll post a schedule as soon as I have one. The best thing to do if you are interested is to sign up for the Notification Mailing list on the eBooks page because I will definitely send out a notice if and when the classes are scheduled.
• Message Board Archives - I think a lot of the old Message Board postings contain valuable information. Unfortunately, they all have to be posted by hand once they fall off the official Board. I will save as many meaty ones as I can.
• External ads on Message Board, NetLinks - There are external (non-mastercomposter.com) ads on the Message Board and NetLinks now. I prefer that they not be there, especially since they include popover and popunder ads which I despise. However, I am grateful that Bravenet.com has been exchanging the use of their server/software/etc. for ad placements while I was away from the site, because I would not have been able to continue the Message Board otherwise. This is a "To Do" that costs cold hard cash, so how soon it can be done depends on how much money the web site generates. (Note, a similar exchange is made for the Notification Mailing List, but I don't find those ads obtrusive, so I don't plan to pay to have those ads removed.)
• Advertisers - We always had great reports from our advertisers and I have saved emails from those who have asked to be notified when we start taking advertising again. As you know, ad contracts require specifics on ad placement and terms, etc. and the site will be in a state of flux in the near future, preventing us from commiting to site ads in specific terms. I am going to have some projects soon where advertising will be available, but not on site pages themselves. I'm going to add a form for Advertisers to use to contact us by email.
• Newsletter - Up in the air right now, I'm still deciding how I want to continue this.
• Elsie's photo - There is a photo on the site of my newest dog Elsie when she was a pup. She's 3 years old now and weighs 45 pounds. I have a new digital camera, but haven't figured out how to use it. When I do, you will get an updated photo of Elsie.

I am a big supporter of environmental groups that save wildlife and natural spaces in various parts of the world. In my heart, I know that those groups are doing work that is vital to the well-being of the human race and they should be supported. But eventually, it began to bother me that I was always sending money to a faceless "them" to save the world "over there" somewhere. I was focused on saving tigers and elephants and polar bears and other beautiful creatures that had nothing whatsoever to do with my day-to-day life. Paying others to do "the responsible thing" while I had only a financial involvement was not consistent with my self-image. I asked some important questions:

• Can I improve the environment without traveling halfway around the world to another continent?
• How can I improve the environment where I live?
• How can I impact the planet by acting here, now?

I am fortunate to belong to a generation which believes that we not only have the responsibility to change the world, but that each of us also has the power to do so. So I set out to educate others. I earned my Master Composter certificate, then my Master Composter Instructor certificate. Meanwhile, in 1997, I started building www.mastercomposter.com as a reference for my classes and others who wanted composting explained to them in accurate but simple terms. The web site caught on and quickly developed a strong, international following. Thousands utilized the web site each day to learn more about home composting and we were soon the premier resource for home composting information.

Many individuals, businesses and government agencies worked hard to get the word out on composting in the 90s and through the turn of the millenium. Awareness of composting is now common among home-owners, though participation is not yet pervasive. The number of compost-savvy households is growing every day, as many continue to teach compost's benefits. If every landowner managed his or her soil responsibly, the planet would be healthy.

Compost educators in both public and private sectors have changed the world for the better. We have increased awareness of Nature's cycle of life and death so that people know they can use productive options to process organic wastes. We have educated people regarding composting's numerous benefits to the environment in terms of soil health and structure, water quality improvement, removing material from the solid waste stream, and reduction in the need for harmful chemicals. By teaching composting to those whose time was previously occupied with video games, computers, and TVs, we have reintroduced a connection between the individual and Nature.

We hope you will become a fervent composter, too!

Mary Tynes
Web Site Editor

Use of any part of this site, or any of the related services including but not limited to Message Board, Search Engine, Surveys, FAQ, email, newsletters, etc., is governed by the Terms of Use. By using this site and related services, you are deemed to have agreed to the terms and conditions of use stated on the current Terms of Use page. Read the Terms of Use carefully and periodically review it for changes.

Links

You are welcome to link to our Home Page, NetLinks, or Message Board from your site as long as you do not put any framing or other content or information around our content. You may NOT link to any page in the Password-Protected Area of the web site.

Copyright and Use of Our Materials

All aspects of this web site, including content, graphics and design, are copyrighted. The copyright belongs to Mary Tynes with the exception of the animated graphics which are copyrighted by Animation Explosion and are used with permission.

We expressly forbid the reproduction of any of our pages on other web sites. Please do NOT write to ask if you can reproduce this web site or any portion of this web site on another web site. The answer is NO.

If you would like to print and use any of our public web site pages for non-profit purposes and agree to include our copyright notice and web site address at the bottom of every page, we encourage you to contact us. "Non-profit purpose" is not limited to non-profit organizations. For example, a commercial business that wants to hand out compost instructions AT NO CHARGE and without requiring a purchase is usually considered a non-profit purpose. Please send your requests by snail mail to

In your request, include the following information. All information is required:

• Your name, your organization's name, street address, web address, and phone
• You are a profit or a non-profit?
• Specific web address of the pages, photos, etc. which you are requesting to use. You can copy this address from the location bar at the top of your browser when the page you wish to use is displayed in your browser.
• How are you planning to use them, i.e., hand-outs, newsletter article, etc. If you are a for-profit, you must explain why you classify this use as a non-profit use.
• PLEASE NOTE: Requests not specifying this information will be denied. Please Do NOT write and ask for unlimited permission to reprint anything anytime you want. That request will be denied.

Participation on Our Site by Local Composting Organizations

The "Compost Education: Local" section of out NetLinks page lists web sites offering Master Composter programs, home composting training, compost demonstration areas, and compost programs by non-profit and for-profit organizations, subject to the approval of www.mastercomposter.com™. There is no charge for non-profit programs, an annual fee for for-profit businesses. See more information here. The local program is responsible for the accuracy of the data, as well as submitting timely updates as necessary.

Web Site Editor

Mary J. Tynes earned her Master Composter and Master Composter Instructor certificates from the State of Texas. Mary is assisted by Alexander the Great Dog, official mascot of www.mastercomposter.com and VP of Public Relations. From the linked photo you can access another photo that shows a "head shot" of Alex's beautiful face. As of August, 2008, Alex is 14.5 years old and still going strong! I have another dog named Elsie, now 3 years old and 45 lbs. I need to take a current photo of her.

See old awards for the web site at our Awards page. I kept up with these when the site was new. After awhile, it wasn't worth the effort, but you can see our early awards if you like.