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JIMMYJAWN t1_ixueyxy wrote

Metal should be recycled. Everything else is waste.

A long time ago people used to put out food waste in a separate bin and it was collected for pig feed. That sounds cool but I’m not sure how you keep vermin away from it.

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wissahickon_schist t1_ixugzlr wrote

They do this for compost now. The company provides covered 5-gallon plastic buckets for kitchen scraps. I see them on doorsteps in Manayunk often, and have never seen one ripped open or spilled.

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noby126 t1_ixuhzh0 wrote

We use Bennett Compost but I believe there is Circle Compost as well! Have been doing it for two years and never had a problem. Squirrels chewed a bit of the lid once trying to get in and Bennett replaced it for us without even askinf

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ponte95ma t1_ixusovv wrote

Yes, circlecompost.com has been pedalling away our compostables for (checks notes) going on six years now!

... including yesterday morning, when our bucket was crazy heavy with Thanksgiving produce scraps. Thanks to Dave and Michele for running such a great service!

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karenmcgrane t1_ixwpgky wrote

I have been using Circle Compost for about as long and they're great! Dave and Michele really do run a great service.

Composting is good for the environment but it's also just so much more convenient to put produce scraps in a separate bucket versus having them in the trash.

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ponte95ma t1_ixxbl4x wrote

Convenient, and sanitary if you're putting trash out in bags, no bins, as so many households seem to do. (But !remindme after our 🐀🐀 develop the paw strength to pry open the lids on our 5-gallon buckets!)

I didn't grow up with garbage disposals in kitchen sinks, but understand that they receive a fair amount of our compostables ... along with non-compostable refuse that actually clogs up our in-sink-erators and pipes 🤔

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wissahickon_schist t1_ixui6zl wrote

Oh, do they just dump your compost and leave the empty bucket? I always assumed they would collect the buckets and replace with cleaned ones.

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inthegarden5 t1_ixuzz6n wrote

You don't want a clean bucket. Your bucket will develop an efficient microbe population that will keep the bucket from smelling and getting gross.

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Stadia_Flakes t1_ixv37p5 wrote

We are out in the burbs and use Mothers Compost; they line the buckets with compostable bags and just replace the bags.

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felisverde t1_ixv5xzb wrote

Yep. But they all charge$$. Many in Philly who would LOVE to participate - myself included - really cannot afford the extra monthly expense. There used to be a separate garbage pickup-you put your scraps, etc...out in a smallish metal can, they came either day before or day after normal trash collection, if I remember correctly. Thing is, it wasn't the city doing it-it was private farms, mostly in Jersey, who came to collect the stuff. They used it for animal feed & fertilizer.

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changeorchange t1_ixvgrww wrote

If you live in South Philly, the community garden at South Philly high accepts compost items for free. You can place it in the bin over the fence on the Jackson street side. They have a sign listing what they accept.

I’m sure other community gardens do this as well.

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felisverde t1_ixwppg4 wrote

I am in S.Philly! I did not know this!! Thank you!!!

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starchild812 t1_ixwdi1k wrote

You can drop off compost for free at MOM's in Center City

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felisverde t1_ixwpujo wrote

Really? I know they have the bins up front, but I didn't realize they take kitchen type compost as well!

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Fourlec t1_ixusk5m wrote

I looked into this and they charged like 30 a month. Idk why it costs so much money to take my food scraps lol

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CerealJello t1_ixv2ii8 wrote

Bennett is only $18/month I think. Circle offers every other week pickup for a bit of a discount too.

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hethuisje t1_ixvs3lr wrote

Yeah, I do every other week for $12/month. Amusingly, they take away tons of garden waste in big paper bags as well, as long as I let them know in advance, so it's more of a "per pickup" than "by volume" kind of pricing system.

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inthegarden5 t1_ixv0mgq wrote

You need a special permit from the state to compost food waste so there are only a limited number of places that take it.

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iaintthewalrus t1_ixuvm3w wrote

Composting is good but I don’t think food scraps are the problem in anyway. It’s all the non biodegradable, single use items that we need to cut down on because they’re not recyclable like we thought.

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urbantravelsPHL t1_ixvufo9 wrote

Organic waste going into landfills is a huge problem because it has a climate impact.

If your banana peels decompose in a compost heap, they give off carbon dioxide, which balanced by the carbon dioxide absorbed by the plant to photosynthesize and make the banana in the first place.

If your banana peels decompose in the sealed environment of a landfill, they will decompose via a different microbial process, called anaerobic decomposition (meaning no oxygen). This is a slower process and it it chemically different - it produces methane, which is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Landfills have to vent the methane that's produced by this decomposition or else they get a bit splody.

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inthegarden5 t1_ixv15gw wrote

Food waste is the largest single component of household trash and we throw out about 30% of the food we buy (some is scrap like cores and peels but some is food we let go bad or just waste). Buried in a landfill it decomposes without oxygen so it produces methane as a byproduct. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas.

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karenmcgrane t1_ixwptuj wrote

The weight and volume of the trash in trucks and landfills matters a lot. More trucks on the road, more space devoted to landfill.

Diverting organic waste to compost provides fertilizer for plants. I use Circle Compost and they pick up with bike trailers.

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karenmcgrane t1_ixwp4u2 wrote

Glass should also be recycled

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joaofava t1_ixyk0i3 wrote

Yes but not in single stream. It just gets smashed up and pressed into the paper and plastic and fucks everything up. Only 40% of single stream glass is actually recoverable.

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felisverde t1_ixv651e wrote

We had smallish metal cans, lids closed pretty tight. (They still sell those things) Critters getting into it was never an issue.

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