West Chester borough will be teaming up with a local environmental partner to promote a brand-new composting program. The plan is simple, and the benefits are endless. Between the months of June and November, the Public Works Department will collect food scraps from local restaurants and deliver them to the local partner. These scraps will then be converted into compost and used as a soil supplement throughout various gardens. The three restaurants participating in this program are Roots Cafe, Three Little Pigs and Landmark Americana.
Currently, food scraps make up 20–30% of the waste stream in the US. It’s estimated that up to 35 million tons of food waste reaches America’s landfills. By reducing this waste, it becomes more cost effective for local restaurants to dispose of their trash. Aside from the monetary benefits, converting food scraps to compost for soil also has environmental benefits. Keeping these scraps out of landfills helps to lessen the amount of greenhouse gases produced. It also helps to provide much-needed nutrients to soil that may otherwise be receiving these nutrients artificially.
To learn more about composting and other ways to help the environment, check out the classes offered by the West Chester Public Works Department.
Photo credit: Ways 2 Go Green
