Somerville considers Curbside Compost Initiative

The City of Somerville recently created a new task force to review options for the development of a Curbside Composting Initiative.

The idea was announced Feb. 25 by Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone and will be co-chaired by Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz, who is the vice chairperson of the Board of Alderman’s Committee on Energy and Environment.

According to Gewirtz, the program would work toward the city’s sustainability and environmental goals. The initiative is part of a broader move to require businesses and residents to compost their leftover food.

“Food scraps that fall into the trash go to landfills and emit significant carbon in the atmosphere which is a component of our global warming problem,” she said.

Gewirtz explained that the creation of a program is not a new idea, and one already exists in the neighboring City of Cambridge.

“The City of Cambridge does it so once residents bring their compost to a designated spot, in the spring they can pick up the composted soil for their garden,” she said.

The city could also save money through such a program due to reduced costs in waste removal, Gewirtz said. She explained that City of Somerville residents generate 5,200 tons in food waste every year and the city estimated that it costs roughly $750,000 to remove and dispose of this waste. She said that other cities have demonstrated a significant decrease in the weight of trash and hopes that Somerville will make similar progress.

According to Gewirtz, the program will be developed by a Curbside Composting Task Force, which is currently seeking applicants from the Somerville community.

Members of the task force do not necessarily have to be experts on this initiative, but will instead consist of people with varying interests, Gewirtz said.

“We’ve heard for some time that Somerville residents want to find a better way [to deal with this issue] than sending our food scraps off to a landfill or incinerator,” she said.

Tufts’ Waste Reduction Program Manager Dawn Quirk said the city’s initiative is an important step in improving recycling.

“I would advocate for Somerville’s effort to include a marketing component to encourage food conservation and waste reduction [because] estimates of total food wasted by Americans are quite astounding,” Quirk told the Daily in an email.

Tufts Eco-Representative (Eco-Rep) Arshiya Goel explained that the university already has its own composting initiatives at the dining halls where all food waste and napkins are composted, and in the residence halls where eco-reps work.

“Each dorm with an eco-rep has at least one bin, though some of them have more,” Goel, a junior, said. “We can compost fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, human hair and nails, unbleached paper towels among other things.”

The university, however, does not have composting available in public spaces like the Mayer Campus Center, Goel explained.

“We are working on expanding the program,” she said. “The more students compost in dorms, the greater worth the university would see in installing composting all over campus.”

According to Goel, Somerville’s Curbside Composting Initiative would not directly affect the majority of Tufts students, but would benefit those who do not live in dorms.

“I live off campus, and we pay a composting company to take our compost twice a month,” she said. “If Somerville actually begins curbside composting it will be great for us.”

Quirk explained that the university would work with students to ensure their participation in the Curbside Composting Initiative.

“Once Somerville has a curbside program, off-campus students living in Somerville could request reused 1-5 gallon kitchen collection buckets from Tufts Recycles! [supplied by Tufts Dining] to help with the effort,” she said.

Gewirtz added that she hopes to have participation from the Tufts community.

“Having Tufts involved would be beneficial, and students and faculty’s help would be great,” she said.