Cucumber peels, chicken bones, lobster shells, even paper napkins – it’s all food waste. It’s also heavy. Food waste makes up 26 percent of the weight of the trash in Massachusetts, filling landfills and costing us a lot of money in waste disposal fees.
Most important, if we compost our food waste we create dirt that can grow more food.
Food waste doesn’t have to be thrown out with the garbage.
The City of Newton is partnering with Black Earth Compost to offer a once-a-week household curbside food waste collection service for your meat, dairy, fruits & veggies, and coffee grounds, tea bags and more.
The City went out to bid to vet a vendor on behalf of Newton residents. The service will cost Newtonians $59.99 for six months, plus a one-time start-up fee of $34 to pay for a 13-gallon lockable bin to collect food waste for weekly pick-up on the curb by Black Earth Compost.
Black Earth Composting is already giving Newton a volume discount.The cost per Newton household will go down even more as more people sign up. When 3,000 households are enrolled in the program the price will fall to $49.99 for six months. It will fall to $44.99 for six months once there are 5,000 households enrolled, and to $39.99 for six months once 7,500 or more households are enrolled in the curbside composting program.
The City’s Five-Year Climate Action Plan motto is “Use Less and Green the Rest.” This is an exciting opportunity for Newton to partner with this Massachusetts company to help those who sign-up “Green the Rest.”
It’s no secret recycling costs are increasing dramatically, and the City’s next contract with Waste Management (our waste and recycling contractor) reflects that as well as increases in salaries and other costs. In the coming year, Newton will have to pay approximately $1 million more for our recycling and trash collection. Every bit we can reuse and green instead of throwing out will help the planet and our wallets.
Watch a short video and learn more here.
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