Archive: Around Town

When garbage tags were introduced recycling was meant to take some of the sting out of the added expense by removing a lot of the weight from our trash cans.  A year ago a food scraps recycling program was instituted.   Saturday a new food scraps drop spot was opened in the Village of Lansing.  The Tompkins County Solid Waste Division has set a goal of 75% waste diversion from the landfill by the end of 2016.  They have reached about 60% so far.  

"A lot of it is through recycling," says Waste Reduction and Recycling Specialist Kat McCarthy.  "Some is from reuse, and then there is food scrap recycling that we're really amping up with.  I think  food scraps recycling is going to help us get closer to that goal."

The new drop spot will be open each Saturday at the Village of Lansing Office, behind the old Village Hall building.  It's simple: an attendant takes your bucket of food waste and dumps it into a larger bin.  If you need more compostable plastic liners for your under-sink 'kitchen caddy' just ask and you will get them free.

In fact, you can pick up the whole kit for free, including the kitchen caddy, a supply of compostable liners, plus a five gallon bucket with a screw-lid to prevent the scraps from leaking in your car.  The kit also comes with instructions on what is compostable and therefore appropriate for this kind of recycling.  When you drop off the bucketful of food waste you can pick up free replacement bags.

"Surprisingly you can compost your Twinkies, but who wouldn't eat those? " McCarthy laughs.  "We can compost all food waste.  Meat, bones, dairy, vegetables... any food waste can go in compost.  We can take waxed paper for compost as well.  We can also take compostable disposables.  Paper products like paper plates or paper napkins or towels, as well as compostable plastics."

She says the Solid Waste Division encourages people to recycle recyclable items like newspapers or paper that doesn't have food on it, rather than compost it.

The finished product is premium compost. From farm or garden to the kitchen table, and back to the farm or garden.The bins are taken to Cayuga Compost, in Trumansburg.  The scraps are mixed with yard waste in wind rows.  After a year the mix transforms into a compost product the company sells in bulk or by the bag.  Samples of the finished product that the company calls 'Premium Black Gold' are also given out at the drop spots, and is on sale for 33% off through the end of this year.  So far the company says it has diverted 22,672 tons of food scrap and yard waste from landfills and composted since 2006.

"We're trying to keep our resources more local," McCarthy says.  "We're trying to reuse the materials that we have and recirculate the nutrients through the soil cycle.  We're supporting a local business.  So there are a lot of environmental benefits.  There are some economic and social benefits.  We don't necessarily say you have to bring it here.  If you want to compost yourself this is a great way to get rid of your meat bones and dairy or your plastics that you might not use on your home pile."

The original drop spot was established last year at the Recycling and Solid Waste Center.  It is open weekdays from 7am to 3:30pm.  Another, at Cayuga Compost in Trumansburg, is open 24/7.  The Village of Lansing site is the second of a series of new drop spots to make it easier for residents to get rid of their food waste without travelling across town.

"This summer we started adding drop spots that are one day a week events to make it easier for people to recycle their food scraps," McCarthy said.  "In August we launched one in Dryden that  is open on Saturdays from nine to noon.  In September we launched our Cooperative Extension drop spot, that is open Sundays from ten to two.  And today is the first launch of the Lansing drop spot at the Village Office.  We're open from ten to one."

McCarthy says they are in the process of gathering data on just how much weight the food scraps program saves each week that would otherwise be applied to garbage tags.


"The users in Dryden say they cut back on their trash," she notes.  "Their trash doesn't smell as much because you're taking away that wet, heavy food waste.  So people can go further between the times they set out trash.  Usually you take out your trassh because it smells or it's heavy or it's full. Taking the food scraps out significantly decreases that.  We've seen people who went from setting out one or more bags a week to every other week or even less."

McCarthy says she has seen positive responses from the people who are using the drop spots.  Between the recycling program and food scraps recycling, McCarthy says that many people will have little to throw away.  She says some are able to put out trash every few weeks instead of every week, saving significantly on garbage tags.

"The drop spot at the recycling center has grown significantly," she says.  "People find it easy to use.  We have hand sanitizer and paper towels so it's clean and convenient for you.  We've got compostable bags.  So it's not too messy and people are finding it's a great way to save on their trash while they're diverting their scraps towards soil amendment.  They're closing the loop on the food scraps."

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