Linda Knight from
Waste Management made an appearance at the latest North Renton Neighborhood Association Meeting this past Thursday - and here's the news. We are composting, people - Renton is truly getting ahead of the herd on recycling. Single Family dwellings have been receiving new and improved garbage cans, a small and handy compost bin with handle to put in the kitchen and escort your sundry food products out to the compost container, large compost cans and now multi-purpose recycling cans. Whew! Finally we
do not separate our various recyclables, like good boys and girls, only to see the garbage man pick them up and hoist them all together into the back of his truck. But my favorite of all has to be the new composting capabilities we have -in this Renton truly rules.
As you can see from my fuzzy, phone photos - you can now put foodstuffs in your compost container - that's right, beyond the pizza boxes and shredded paper, you can put any foodstuff in there as long as it is not liquid and runny. Old chicken carcass - done, in it goes. Uneaten leftovers - done, in it goes. The test program that the city conducted found that there were no problems with the rodent population, and the pick-up on those containers is every week, so you are in the clear of any concerns.
The only let down is that there is no similar program for Multi-Family units, read apartment/condo buildings here, where the composting is concerned. That would specifically have to be a service that the owner was interested in working with Waste Management to get, and that is sadly, a huge loss of potential recycling for the city. With more people unable to afford a house, this will be the wave of future living conditions for most people. Hope Waste Management can come up with a better plan for the near future. In the meantime, I worked it out with a housedweller on our street to pop down and add my composting in to the bin. Call me crazy, but I am really liking this ratching up of the recycling trend!
North Renton Neighborhood Association North.Renton@gmail.com
Posts
Debbie Natelson, owner of Jet City Espresso, our second home and hang, has many skills up her sleeve including being the Master Recycle Composter for the Renton area. Many people are reading the literature from Waste Management and still scratching their heads about what can go in to which bin - Deb is available to field all of your queries. Just make your way over to the cafe, buy a super cup of cafe and ask away. Deb was up at QFC last week, a store that sponsors a program that allows the public to meet with the "MRC" - part of a citizen outreach program, but many of us missed out on that chance -and now we have one tailored exactly to our needs. Drop by and pick her brain - she is a fount of knowledge also about organic gardening and landscaping, backyard composting and worm bins for your food scraps.
