Sawdust disposal

Q: I recently bought a bench top wood planer and have been generating bags and bags of sawdust in my workshop. Trouble is, I just found out that my municipality doesn't accept sawdust as garbage. How can I dispose of it properly?

A: Sawdust isn't okay as garbage where I live either, but I've found that it's useful for mulching and composting. Wood dust and shavings from almost any species can be used, with the exception of black walnut, which contains a plant-suppressing substance called juglone. I use shavings at my place as a surface mulch, and also as part of the material I put into my large, two-sided compost bin. Mixed with grass clippings and sprinkled with nitrogen-rich fertilizer, wood waste breaks down in a couple of years. If you make more shavings than you can handle, perhaps you can find a farmer who will take it. Most manure piles can use more carbon, and wood waste is an excellent source of this element. Also, sawdust spread thinly around the forest floor disappears in no time.