BRATTLEBORO — The town of Brattleboro will distribute donated curbside containers and kitchen counter top containers to the 150 participants of the Curbside Compost Pilot on July 28 and Aug. 4.
Distribution will take place on the grassy area between the Department of Public Works and the Recycling Drop-Off Center on Fairground Road at 9 a.m.
Eight manufacturers of containers and biodegradable bags are participating in the pilot project, which will collect compost and organics from the curbside of Brattleboro residents. Collection of the compost will begin on Friday, Aug. 17, and will continue for four months.
According to Brattleboro Recycling Coordinator Moss Kahler, after the pilot period, the program will be extended to all Brattleboro residents currently receiving curbside trash and recycling pick up.
Compost and organics account for up to 33 percent of household trash. Kahler said diversion of this part of the waste stream and processing into marketable compost has many benefits - it will lengthen the life of Vermont's only two landfills; reduce the amount of methane, a significant greenhouse gas, generated from buried organics; reduce Brattleboro's carbon footprint by vastly reducing long distance trucking; and save the town many thousands of dollars annually in tipping fees.
Participants in the pilot project will be identified by “Curbside Compost” yard signs in the coming weeks and months. Friends and neighbors are encouraged to ask them about the curbside composting program.
New Chapter, a Brattleboro company, has underwritten the cost of the signs. The manufacturers donating to the pilot are Ameri-Kart Industries, BioBag-USA, Cascade Cart Solutions, GLAD Bags, IPL, ORBIS/Norseman, Schaefer Systems International, and TOTER.
Anyone with questions about the pilot program should contact Kahler at mailto:brattleborocompost@comcast.net.