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Composting a great way to reduce waste

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August 15, 2008
I am always in search of ways to pull more materials out of the waste stream. I think one thing that people can still work on is composting. Composting is a great way to reduce waste. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2005, compost made up about 8% of the total waste stream. This is not the amount of compost that each household's weekly garbage, but rather, the 8% is the amount of reported compost material that was separated out in 2005. According to the State Planning Office, the municipal solid waste (MSW) in Maine consists of approximately 26% organic waste by weight (not including paper, newspaper and cardboard) and includes food scraps yard trimmings, brush and pet waste. Food scraps alone make up about 15% of the waste stream.

In order to have compost that is ready to use in a timely manner, you need to do a few things. First, you need to have a mix of what they call brown and green materials. Brown materials are made up of lawn clippings and leaves from your yard. Green materials are the wet stuff that comes from your kitchen waste. You would be amazed at how much waste from our kitchens can be composted. Here's a list to give you an idea: paper towels, napkins, coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells and vegetable and fruit scraps. Some of the things you want to avoid putting in the compost are meats, dairy and any kind of oils and fats. These attract animals that might tear into your compost bin and make a mess of your hard work.

The second thing you can do to speed up your compost is turn it. Turning your compost helps the undigested material on the outside of your pile get inside so that it can break down. There are some people who don't believe in turning their compost and feel that the unturned compost is worth the wait. The earth machine compost bin that the City sells comes with a 38 page booklet on how and what you can compost.

Recycling is one of the easiest things we can do to help the environment and make less waste. The next step in reducing how much garbage you put out at the curb is taking out your food scraps and composting them.

There are a few businesses that sell compost bins in our area. One of them is F.W. Horch located in Brunswick. They have a lot of different types of composters as well as other items to make it easier to pull the food scraps out of your waste. Another option that is brand new to the City is the Solar Store located at 743 Portland Road in Saco. The Saco location is so new that their web page doesn't even list them yet! If you are looking for energy efficient products and composters you can give them a visit.

I would love to hear what's going on in your back yards! Contact me at sbernier@sacomaine.org, or at the Public Works Office at 282-1552. Your comments and questions are always appreciated.