OPINION: Composting in Medford – Easier than you think (and actually kind of great)
This Medford resident says the city's composting program has many benefits.
More than 8,200 households participate in Medford’s free citywide composting program, and we diverted more than 2.7 million pounds of food from the waste system. Think about that volume. Instead of millions of pounds of food being incinerated and sent into the atmosphere at the Saugus incinerator, millions of pounds of food waste were converted to compost and spread on fields at a farm in Hamilton. That alone makes me feel a whole lot better about those leftovers I forgot to eat, and the produce that routinely rots on my countertop despite my best intentions.
And this isn’t complicated composting. It’s simple. When I have guests over, they often ask, “Can this food go in the compost?” And, the answer is always, “Absolutely.” Because Garbage to Garden composts at scale, their compost piles reach high enough temperatures to break down all kinds of food scraps, even bones. So there is no annoying separation of food. I scrape everything into the bin on my countertop.
Does the countertop bin smell? The honest answer: not usually. And it definitely smells less than my garbage did when I discarded food in there. And guess what? If it smells, I take it out to the bin – just like regular household garbage. And my compost bin doesn’t typically smell either. Sure, in the heat of the summer, it gets a little stinky like everything else, but no worse than my household trash smelled before I composted.
This wasn’t a huge lifestyle overhaul for my family. It was an easy addition to our garbage and recycling routine. Garbage to Garden picks up weekly on the city's scheduled trash days. And they will continue to pick up weekly, even when the other waste changes go into effect. This is a FREE service. It is simple to sign up, and the Garbage to Garden crew is super helpful and knowledgeable if you have any questions or concerns. If you haven’t signed up yet, give it a try. It’s free. It’s easy. It’s good for the environment. And it’s good for Medford. You can sign up at https://medfordcomposts.com/.
Zoe Moutsos
Medford
