What to do with food scraps?
Steps to Take
For Black Earth curbside food scraps pickup:
- Sign up on their site.
- Choose a one-month or a six-month subscription, which is the best deal at $114.99.
- Also, order a Starter Kit which includes a handy, critter-proof bin on wheels, a roll of bags to line it so it stays clean, and a roll of smaller bags for whatever container you use to collect compostables in the kitchen.
- Once registered, you will be given instructions about where in Wayland to pick up your Starter Kit.
- Start collecting!
- Let us know how it goes by contactig us or by leaving a testimonial (third tab, above).
To buy a discount compost bin
Energize Wayland has New Age compost bins available. You can find more info about them here, but in short, they are $79 each. This is a discount price as they were bought through the State’s Department of Environmental Protection program, and we are selling them at the original price.
- Email Kaat for here adderss so you can to send a check to Energize Wayland.
- Then you can go pick up the bin at the Wayland Transfer Station (484 Boston Post Rd, you won’t need a sticker).
- Take a picture of your compost setup and send it to us, write a Testimonial (Testimonial tab above) and share on social media: let’s all compost!
Deep Dive
Incredibly, over 51% of the trash that goes to landfills is compostable. In the US, we throw out roughly 60 millions tons of food each year, not only wasting valuable resources (food, and organic fertilizer) but also contributing to methane, a gas with a warming potential roughly 21 times that of carbon dioxide. We’re putting a stop to that, household by household, town by town!
Why we recommend Black Earth.
We are aware that there are other haulers in our town that offer this service, and if you use these, we welcome your thoughts (email info@energizewayland.org or leave a testimonial on this site). But these are two ways in which Black Earth stands out for us.
- First, unlike trash haulers, they compost the collections themselves (at their operation in Manchester-by-the-Sea) according to strict DEP rules. They have demonstrated to us their process, and have invited us to come for a tour in spring or summer. Let us know if you want to come on this field trip.
- Second, they also sell this finished compost. For that reason they are more strict than anyone else in the business (that we know of) about what they take for compostable cutlery, plates, and pizza boxes, taking only BPI-certified (by the Biodegradable Products Institute). They do this to avoid plastics in their end product (more info here). This tells us that they deeply value the quality of their compost and the environment, even at the risk of losing some customers.
