Letter: Let’s divert organic waste with curbside composting in St. Paul
Over 30 percent of the waste we generate in each household throughout the City of St. Paul is organic material like fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy products and even nonrecyclable paper products such as pizza boxes. Our landfills are overflowing and the decomposing trash is creating greenhouse gases. If we divert the waste by composting, it would make less of an impact on the environment.
Curbside composting could drastically help reduce St. Paul’s environmental footprint. Curbside composting, or collection of organic waste, is a program where city residents could receive a bucket or tub to be filled with organic materials. It would be left on the curbside for pick up on a regular basis, much like we already do with trash and recycling. According to the “Recycle It Forward” survey taken in 2013, three-quarters of St. Paul residents want curbside composting. If that organic material is not sorted out, then it is piling up in our landfills and increasing our environmental impact.
Minneapolis has already begun its curbside composting program in August 2015 on a sign-up basis. There are several sources online that have stated different timelines of when it could foreseeably come to St. Paul, the “Como Composts” website claims that we could see it mid- 2017, and the “Recycle It Forward” survey says that our current contract with Eureka is finished in 2024, but there is not a set plan of action yet. We need to act as soon as possible to try and control our carbon footprint. St. Paul is a progressive and open city; our neighborhoods are ready for this. Let’s make our city a better place while we still can.
Caty Rent, Como Park
