Composting service comes to Bay Village!
Composting bins are located in the northeast corner of the Bay Lodge parking lot. Photo by Denny Wendell
Great news! As a Bay Village resident, you can now sign up to compost your leftover food waste! The service will be provided by Rust Belt Riders and costs $10 a month. For $10 a month you can collect and bring ALL of your home food waste to the drop-off location, located in the northeast corner of the Bay Lodge parking lot. Bay Lodge is located on Bradley, just south of Wolf, and is adjacent to Bradley Road Park.
Why compost? The first answer is simple: to keep as much as we can out of the landfill. Why is that important? Compost is a valuable resource so when it ends up in the landfill, it’s being wasted.
Second, it is in all our interest to keep as much as we can out of the landfill because we are literally filling land full of waste – and eventually we will run out of that land. When we do, we will have to pay more to transport our trash farther away.
And third, when food breaks down in the landfill it creates methane gas, which accounts for 10% of greenhouse gases emitted in the U.S. Waste in landfills break down anaerobically (without oxygen) which is why it produces methane gas. Methane gas is 25 times more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. Composting completes the cycle of food: it is grown from the earth and returns to the earth to enrich it.
So, you’re thinking to yourself: Great! I’ll compost! But why do I need to pay for the service and drive it over to a special location? Composting at home is different than industrial composting, which is what the new service is offering for $10 a month.
You CAN compost at home and use your compost for your garden and beds. When you add it to your garden, you are adding nutrients to your soil and improving your garden. Compost takes the place of chemical fertilizers and helps soil retain moisture, meaning you don’t have to water as often! Compost releases nutrients that are long lasting, contrary to chemical fertilizers that provide a quick dump of nutrients which then wash away into our waterways, adding to the problem that causes the algae blooms in the lake.
Residential composting is typically comprised of raw fruits and vegetables, egg shells, coffee grounds, black and white newsprint, fireplace ashes, dryer lint, and yard waste (leaves, sticks, etc.). Adding meat, dairy, cooked food, and bones to residential composting will attract animals. Keeping those materials out of your home compost will ensure that animals are not attracted to it – I have been composting at home for years and have never had a problem with animals.
Industrial composting is beneficial because you can add ALL food scraps including cooked food, bones, meat, bread, and dairy. You can also add BPI-Certified compostable products (disposable plates, forks, cups, etc. are available using this material) so if you are hosting a party in which you want/need to use disposable products, if you use BPI-Certified products you can bring all of the party waste over to the new compost bins and guess what? You have a zero-waste party! What is not accepted at the compost bins is pure oil or pure liquid.
For more information or to sign up for the service, please visit bayvillagegreenteam.org. You can also download the free Better Bin app for a complete list of acceptable materials.
To collect your waste, Rust Belt Riders recommends using a 5-gallon bucket with a paper bag liner. That way, you can put the entire paper bag into the compost bin when dropping off. When you sign up for the service, you will be provided a 4-digit code that will be used to open the padlocks to access the composting bins.
Whether you decide to compost at home or use the new service, please know that you are making a difference. You are keeping a valuable resource out of the landfill, you are adding less to the landfill, you are helping limit methane gas emissions, and you are doing your part to create a more sustainable future for Bay Village and the earth. Each of our seemingly small acts add up to create a large impact.