Oak Park Tests Municipal Compost Waters with Yard Waste Pilot

Gray composting bin to the left.

A few years ago, my municipality decided to trim its trash by charging residents more for larger waste receptacles, but slightly less if you opted for a larger recycling container.

Even with two kids, one still in pull ups, this was an easy call for us. If we couldn’t fit all our waste into a bin each week, we needed to cut down. Turns out, when we separated what was truly recyclable, we always have more for the recycling bin than our waste bin.

Less goes in the bins over the summer when my composts is being loaded. So I was delighted to learn that Oak Park is making it easy for residents to compost. Or at least they’re making it easier for some residents.

As part of a pilot municipal waste project, some of my neighbors to the west have been given gray bins to go along their regular trash bins (green) and recycling bins (blue). Neighbors with limited alley space can share compost bin. They were apparently picked to test the program because they’re already big participants in the village’s yard waste program.

Municipal composting is nothing new. San Francisco’s been doing it for at least a decade. And many towns and villages have yard waste mulching programs. Still, this is relatively new in our area.

What impressed me was how much is considered compostable, things I wouldn’t think of putting in my backyard composter so as not to attract animals or bugs. Things like meat, bones and pizza boxes.

The experiment, which costs $12 to volunteers, is aimed at determining if Oak Park can substantially divert more waste from landfills. It already diverts some 38% of waste through recycling and yard waste programs.

I hope this works out so we can sign up for a gray bin and reduce our carbon footprint, one pizza box at a time.

Coverage here:
Composting Program to Launch in South Oak Park