The city of Athens’ city-wide curbside composting program has provided an easier, more efficient way to compost for those who have remained in the program.
The city’s program began July 1 and currently has 1,500 households in Athens participating. The service costs residents who do not opt-out $6.33 per month. Households that did not opt-out of the program — which automatically enrolls residents — received a bucket and instructional pamphlet, according to a previous Post report.
Items like food scraps, tea and coffee grounds, paper towels and other organic items can be put into the composting bucket and are taken to the Athens-Hocking Recycling Center’s industrial composting complex.
Overall, the program is self-supporting, Athens City Auditor Kathy Hecht said. It takes no taxpayer dollars to fund.
The program has 1,132 residential addresses, 1,344 rental addresses and 866 apartment complex units that have opted out of the program so far, Andrew Chiki, deputy service-safety director, said.
“One of the most common responses we receive from individuals when they provide a reason for their request to opt-out is that they are already composting on their own in one form or another and using the organic material for their home gardens and flower beds,” Chiki said in an email.
For many Athens residents, like Lisa Heinz, who has lived in Athens since 1992, the program has provided an easier way of doing something that they have already been doing on their own for years.
“I've been composting on my own for years,” Heinz said. “This keeps the varmints out of the backyard.”
Heinz is currently happy with the price and will continue using the service for now.
The program has been going well so far, Bruce Underwood, executive director of the Athens-Hocking Recycling Center, said. Although there have been many questions from residents, feedback from those using the program has been very positive.
“It took a while for people to get their bucket and kind of get into gear using it,” Underwood said. “We’ve got some further educational efforts that we want to do upcoming, depending on when the students come back for off campus purposes.”
To further spread information about the program, the city and Athens-Hocking Recycling Center have used the city’s invoicing services for utility billing. They have also utilized both the city’s and Athens-Hocking Recycling Center’s social media as well as the pamphlets that were sent out with each bin.
Underwood hopes to utilize the same resources in the future as more students return to Athens off-campus.
One of the largest impacts of the program is the reduction in landfill trash going out and the types being kept out, Underwood said.
“We've been able to divert … 200 or 300 tons of food waste per year,” Underwood said. “It sounds (like) a lot, but it's not a lot compared to what we throw in the landfill to begin with, but I think the distinction here is … that those types of organic material that were gaining material going to landfill has a much greater effect, carbon footprint wise and sustainability wise.”
Mary Ann Welsh, an Athens resident for over 25 years, said she initially joined the program during the pilot phase but opted out for a period of time when the price rose to $20 a month.
Welsh, however, wanted to see the service get off the ground and decided to opt back in. She said she is much happier with the price now.
“It's a process — a natural process — of taking organic materials and putting it back into soil,” Welsh said. “With the compost project, we're following nature, and I believe strongly that that really is the best thing that we can do at this point.”
Although Welsh has called with questions, she is very happy with the service overall. The program has even offered her more composting opportunities than she had previously by accepting meat products.
“A lot of things that you wouldn't do in-home compost because of the process, you can put in the bucket,” Welsh said.
In the future, the Athens-Hocking Recycling Center hopes to expand the composting program and share more information about it, especially with Ohio University students.
“We just hope to add more and educate people about the importance of it and how to do it,” Underwood said. “With a high student population, people come and go, so we're going to try to stay on top of that to make sure people were aware of the program to begin with.”
