This year’s winner of the ICAW 2023 Poster Contest is Jun Qi Tan. Out of hundreds and hundreds of entries from around the world (we received entries from 77 different countries), her entry was chosen. Jun Qi Tan is an illustrator and storyteller from Singapore, and also a regenerative gardener and composter on the side. She told us that it has been almost three years since she started her home composting practice and her explorations in regenerative farming, and by now she has had her fair share of worm bin escapes and failed hot compost piles. She continues her practice in tending to her family’s garden and occasionally helping out at community ones and donates surplus produce to her local community when she’s able to. She looks forward to being able to raise awareness through her art about the aliveness of soil and compost and the integral role they play in healthy food systems and a healthy planet.
The winner of the ICAW 2023 Video Contest is Magna Iacomella from Bueno Aires, Argentina. She is 11-years-old. Here’s how she explained why she entered the contest: “I participated because I realized that composting is something interesting. I had not realized that throughout my life I have been composting a lot, because since I was a little girl I have been separating waste. My dad talks to me a lot about compost, and he tells me that when he was little he didn’t separate the organic or prepare the compost. It seems crazy to me because then fruits and vegetables were less healthy. I think it’s weird to throw a banana peel in the trash. The concept of my video is that composting is a circular thing, it starts and if you continue it never ends. To make this video I got help from a friend who is 11-years-old and my little sister who is 6.” You can watch Magna’s winning video HERE
International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) is the largest and most comprehensive education initiative of the compost industry. It is celebrated nationwide and in other countries each year during the first full week of May. The goal of ICAW is to work together to raise public awareness on why we all should be composting our organics recycling and using compost. The program includes poster and video contests in the fall and activities and events held during the week in May. Throughout the week of ICAW, community and business events are held to encourage and celebrate composting – all types of composting – from backyard to large-scale are promoted. Each year a new theme is chosen. The dates for ICAW 2023 are May 7 – 13. The theme is For Healthier Soil, Healthier Food…Compost!. ICAW in the US is a program run by the Compost Research & Education Foundation.