International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) is the compost industry’s largest, most far-reaching education and awareness campaign, celebrated worldwide each year during the first full week of May. The mission is simple but powerful: bring people together to share the benefits of composting organics and using compost to build healthier soil. From the fall poster contest to thousands of events and activities during the week, ICAW inspires action at every level. Communities, schools, governments, and businesses host celebrations highlighting all types of composting, from small backyard efforts to large-scale commercial operations, showing that everyone can play a part in creating a more sustainable future.

Each year, a new ICAW theme is selected. The theme is used for the Poster Contest, which invites artists (age 14 and older) from throughout the world to create a design sharing the importance of composting and compost use.