Boston City Councilors Matt O’Malley and Ayanna Pressley have pitched a curbside composting program within the city for the fifth time, hoping that Boston can mimic the success of other citywide composting initiatives such as those which exist in San Francisco and Cambridge.
The city of Boston already currently has a pilot composting program titled “Project Oscar,” named after the iconic and grouchy Sesame Street character who lives in a trash can. The partnership program is the first of its kind, a 24-hour community composting program in which members are able to drop off their residential food waste into one of six bins located throughout the city. The entire process is managed by Greenovate Boston.
But the proposed plan differs from Project Oscar; O’Malley and Pressley have proposed a plan in which small compost bins would be picked up from in front of residences, just as trash and recycling bins are, by trucks driven by the Public Works team employed by the city.
According to O’Malley, more than 1/3 of our food isn’t consumed, and subsequently, ends up in our waste stream. Their stated goal is for Boston to be zero waste in the near future.
“We are paying millions of dollars to remove [tons of trash] when it could be composted,” said Pressley during a City Hall meeting. “We are making incremental steps but the life of our planet is at stake here.”
“We can’t get to zero waste without doing this” contributed Councilor Frank Baker as he pledged his support to the initiative, alongside many of his fellow city councilors.
The City Council believes that the proposed program would be beneficial to the environment, Boston parks and playgrounds, and surrounding farms. In addition, O’Malley argued that the initiative would provide economic opportunity for many in the city, as it would create more jobs and provide a better working environment.
However, members of the audience voiced their concerns, many worrying that the smell of compost bins left on the street might have a negative impact on the communities which might participate. Other questions were raised regarding the size of the bins, the pick up schedule, etc.
But Councilor Lydia Edwards, in addition to the majority of the City Council, was not concerned.
“We are not only composting for our parks, but composting for our future” she said.