Public Comment

We hear news every day about the “greening” of our world. Architects are designing with green materials, contractors are installing recycled floors, and appliances are put into kitchen and laundry rooms that use less energy. People buy products (from light bulbs to clothing) that show that we care for our environment. Some days it seems overwhelming! “What can I do about it?” can seem daunting. 

The one thing everyone can do, every day, to help our planet survive in tack for our grandchildren, is to recycle. Included in that category is the recycling of our food wastes: composting! If we compost food scraps and kitchen papers we will go a long way of reaching our goal of “Zero Waste” in the next ten years. 

When organic matter is put in the landfill it produces methane, which is a greenhouse gas and adds to climate change. The trash we threw out in the 1950’s did not decompose or break down: in fact, the newspapers can still be read today that say “Eisenhower elected President!” Recycling your paper, bottles, and cans is important, but so is recycling your greens, i.e. composting! 

There are two ways in which your household can stop organic matter from going to the landfill: 1) You can put your food scraps and kitchen papers in your own backyard compost bin (as 50 percent of Berkeley folks do now), or 2) Pending City Council approval, you will be able to put your compostables into your green cart along with your tree trimmings, cut grasses, and dead leaves. (My own personal goal is to break myself of the habit of using paper towels and the occasional paper napkin.) 

The contents of the green cart is taken to Modesto, where Grover Landscaping Company grinds it, screens it, piles it in long wind-rows, turns it every three days, gives it a sprinkling of water, and lets the sun “cook” it into rich, fine compost in ten weeks! Grover gives the city (for our parks, community and school gardens) a portion of it, and the rest is sold to farmers in the central valley.  

If you want to compost at home, a compost bin can be purchased at a reduced rate through stopwaste.org, or by calling 444-SOIL. I collect my orange peels, onion skins, carrot ends, dead flowers and other green matter in a covered pail under my kitchen sink, and every 5 days I take it to my backyard compost bin. There I layer it with dried leaves, turn it, and sprinkle it with water. It will break down in a matter of weeks. Now that it’s spring, I can put some of this dark, rich compost in my flower and vegetable garden! 

Beebo Turman is a Berkeley resident.