If you live with a compost pile, it can be easy to forget what a luxury it is to toss your scraps somewhere other than the trash! And if you live without a compost pile, it can be really hard to figure out what to do with all the food waste that starts adding up...in buckets in your freezer (that was my approach) or spread out to dehydrate until you can find a natural area to toss it in (that one's my brother's).
We would love to see Shawnee County take control of this issue and provide drop-off or curbside compost collection—just as they do for trash and recycling. Since we don't imagine that's forthcoming, we hope to start a community conversation around compost and see what solutions a group of sustainably minded citizens can provide. Stay tuned for more on this (and do let us know if you have any thoughts on potential partners!).
Though we don't currently have the infrastructure to process compost from dozens or hundreds of households, we realized in talking with one of our customers this week that we might be able to crowdsource a temporary solution. Perhaps dozens or hundreds of YOU could add the compost from a couple extra people to your existing compost pile!
Whether you've got composting space or finished compost to offer, are looking for a place to take your waste, or are looking for finished compost to buy, send us an email or post your contact info at the shop on our Compost Connection board. Include your address or general location in town, then see if the sustainability stars align. Hopefully you'll find a neighbor with—or in need of—a pile near you.
Once you find your match, the two of you can get touch and set up your system. Make sure to talk about things like:
- timing and frequency of drop-offs;
- what materials are okay to include (only fruits and veggies? meats, fats, and dairy? paper products? coffee filters? yard waste?);
- what volume of scraps to expect;
- whether you'll want to trade any money for the service (maintaining the compost pile does take work); and
- whether you'll include anything else in the trade-off (help turning the pile, a share of the resulting compost, etc.).
When you've got as many extra folks as you want, let us know, and we'll take down your name from the board.
Coming together to craft this sort of solution isn't as easy as letting the County handle it. But perhaps it will help highlight the need for them to take it on. With about 4 lbs. of food waste going into the garbage for every person in the U.S. every week, we really can't afford to wait.
-Justine