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Compost touted as a way to reduce waste to landfill

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Staff

By Will Bryant
Staff Writer

Add another “r” to the mantra of reduce, reuse and recyle – rot.

Orange County residents are likely to see a push for composting as part of the county’s updated strategy for solid-waste reduction.

In recent briefings on the country’s update to it’s 10 Year Solid Waste Management Plan, Gayle Wilson, director of Orange County Solid Waste Management, has outlined some of the goals for a continued reduction of the county’s solid-waste stream. During a briefing last week in Carrboro, the idea of increasing the number of residents who compost took center stage.

Carrboro Board of Aldermen member Sammy Slade said it may be one of the best strategies to help the county reach its goal and would have the additional benefit of encouraging more people to grow their own food.

“Composting is our way of feeding the soil so it can feed us,” Slade said in a recent interview. He said he’d like to see a community-wide curbside-pickup composting project like those already up and running in San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and smaller towns on the West Coast. He’s optimistic such a project could take root in Carrboro and the result could help supply compost to the growing number of community gardens.

“The fact that [other towns] are doing it is proof that it can be done,” Slade said. “The pilot projects are up and running; all we need to do is get it started.”
County Commissioner Mike Nelson said he’s also convinced that composting would be a help.

“It is so easy,” Nelson said. “You just need a bin, some kitchen waste and some worms. All you have to do is let the worms do their work. The fertilizer that comes from composting is amazing. You can’t buy fertilizer like that in stores.”

1 thought on “Compost touted as a way to reduce waste to landfill”

  1. D. L. Nichols says:
    October 27, 2010 at 9:21 am

    Some people don’t need the worms if you are out in the county. The worms (and other food eating bugs) pretty much come to you. But it is a great way to reduce waste and provide great soil for your garden (food and flower). So easy that it is a great way to cut your waste and go back to the basics from the old days of doing things. My 87 yr old aunt remembers the farm and how they used to dig a hole, bury the food waste and use the fertilizer from it later.

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