trin’ ^orttani» (Dhsertier
Page 8
O ctober 12. 2011
Garbage Pickup Changes
con tin u ed
fr o m p a g e 3
w ith the new system , you can put
item s in your green yard debris roll
cart that should not go in y o u r b ack
yard com post pile such as m eat,
bones, dairy and grains.
All foods can be com posted, in
cluding m eat, bones, poultry, sea
food, dairy, eggshells, beans, bread,
pasta, rice and other grains, fruits
and vegetables, coffee grounds and
filters, teab ag s, and o th e r plate
scrapings. Paper napkins and pizza
delivery boxes, along w ith existing
yard debris, can also be com posted
in the green roll cart.
Every household in Portland will
receive a tw o-gallon kitchen pail as
part o f a tool kit for com posting,
w hich will be delivered in the c o m
ing days. The kitchen pail can be
stored under the sink or on the
counter for use w hile preparing food
o r cleaning up after a m eal and then
em ptied into the green roll cart.
The city said nearly 80 percent o f
h o u seh o ld s w ho tested the new
rules reported col lecting food scraps
regularly, dropping the am ount o f
garbage destined for landfills by
alm ost 30 percent.
O f the 2,000 Portland households
in the year-long pilot, 87 percent o f
participants reported being satis
fied w ith the overall system .
W hen Jason D um ont m oved in
to his hom e o ff N ortheast 74th and
Siskiyou tw o years ago his b ack
yard was covered in cem ent w ith no
com posting bin. O ne year later,
w hen his neighborhood started the
c ity ’s pilot program for curbside
food com posting, he w as excited to
participate.
D u m o n t, w ho say s the three
people in his household are “pretty
environm entally con scio u s,” said
the transition has been "p ain less.”
However, for people with larger fami
lies or children, like his sister with
tw o children, he said there m ay be
m ore concerns about garbage p ick
ups com ing every other w eek in
stead every week.
“ It depends on y o u r lifestyle,”
he said, “ If your garbage is full o f
d ia p e rs.. . ” Y our garbage cannot be
com posted, and it m ay need to be
em ptied m ore frequently.
A n e ig h b o r, R yan L a n ie r, lives
in a h o u se h o ld w ith tw o b o y s and
tw o ro o m m ate s, and h a v in g n e v er
c o m p o ste d fo o d scrap s b e fo re ,
said the p ilo t p ro g ram go t th em to
s ta rt.
As for the pitfalls o f a full g ar
bage can, he said, “ S om etim es the
garbage is up to the rim, but w e’ve
j ust been more conscious about what
we are putting in it.” O nly once has
his garbage been so full that he had
to dispose o f it at his m o m ’s house
w ho lives by herself.
L anier said that he is hopeful the
curbside food com posting will work.
He is not alone. A nother resident,
Tyler Erick, who lives with his mother
and uncle, said th e y 'v e had no prob
lem s w ith an overflow ing garbage
can , and though the co n cep t o f
com posting food scraps is new , he
said, “ I like how the food is getting
recy cled .”
D u p le x e s ,
tr i p le x e s
and
fourplexes that are ow ner- or ten
ant-occupied are included in the
residential program . B uildings with
five o r m ore units are not part o f the
new curbside collections, but may
PHOTO BY
C a RI HACHM ANN/THE PORTLAND OBSERVER
Northeast Portland resident Ryan Lanier says he has become a
more conscious recycler as a participant o f the city’s pilot pro
gram for curbside food composting. He composts his food
scraps in the provided air-tight, plastic container (above) before
disposing them in his yard-debris cart.
com e as a later phase o f the p ro
gram.
R esid e n ts w ill be ab le to set out
e x tra g a rb a g e fo r an a d d itio n a l
o n e -tim e fee as n e ed e d . If you
fin d y o u r h o u s e h o ld has e x tra
g a rb a g e on a re g u la r b a sis, o r th at
y o u re q u ire less fre q u e n t c o lle c
tio n s, c o n ta c t y o u r g a rb a g e an d
re c y c lin g c o m p a n y to a d ju st y o u r
serv ice.
D isposable diapers and pet w aste
should not be com posted as they
contain organism s that can be harm
ful to the com posting process and
thus, will continue to go in your
garbage, securely bagged and fas
tened.
Join us for a night of
FRIDAY,
OCTOBER 7 th
AT 7 pm
M ost Portlanders, w ho stay w ith
the sam e container size, including
20 and 32 gallon cans and carts, will
not see an increase in th eir $24.50
m onthly garbage bill. C ollection
rates increase by $3.50 for 60 gal Ion
carts, $3.80 for 90 gallon carts, and
$2.60 for once-a-m onth-cans and
carts.
S m aller green Portland C o m
posts ! roll carts w ill be available for
custom ers w ho w ould like to partici
pate in the food scrap com posting
program , but d o n ’t currently have
yard debris service.
The Blue P ortland Recycles! roll
carts for paper and m etal recycling
and the yellow bin services for glass
recycling will not change and will
continue to be collected every week.
Portland also has a com m ercial
com posting program with m ore than
700 businesses participating. For
six years, it has kept approxim ately
10,000 tons o f food scraps out o f
landfills each year.
S llh s c r ih p l
O U U d tllU C ’
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21 ST AT 7 P M
N e w S o n g C o m m u n it y C e n t e r
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