Seattle's Curbside Food Recycling (and Impatient in Portland)

Couple of years ago, we went to Seattle to visit my aunt. I was on the cusp of starting my Master Recycler training. I was astounded to learn that Seattle had curbside pick-up of food scraps that the home composter usually feeds into an Earth Machine. It had evolved from their yard waste collection, which we in Portland have. Flash forward to the Master Recycler course. Turns out some restaurants and businesses are able to contract with the same company that is behind this curbside food waste pickup: Cedar Grove. And the best part? Cedar Grove plans to site a composting facility in the Portland Metro area so that we too can have curbside "food recycling" as they call it in Seattle. Portland can still be the greeniest!!

Several years later, Portland is still waiting. I don't think it looks good. As I understand it, there have been many attempts to get a site and establish local curbside food pickup and composting in Portland, and all attempts have sputtered out for some reason. While I'm not giving up hope, I'm also glad that we already compost at home and have always encouraged EnviroMom readers to do the same.

So this last weekend, we went to Seattle again. It's the perfect little weekend getaway for us, and always enjoyable to visit with our relatives. Get this: they're now going to start including meat scraps, fish skins, and bones in their food recycling program! I'm green with envy. These are the stinkiest things that still end up in my garbage. This is the main objection we get from people when we bring up the One Can A Month topic. Someday... Someday my prince will come, and he'll be driving a big truck filled with coffee grounds, greasy pizza boxes, egg shells and veggie peelings... and I'll be one happy EnviroMom. Let's hope it happens before 2015.

Why so excited about this possible change? It's not that I would stop home composting. But I'd love to be able to compost (instead of throwing away) meat waste, bones, fish skins, and the greasy food-contaminated part of the cardboard pizza box (which my composting method doesn't currently accommodate). I'd have another option besides the garbage can.

Green envy aside, what was really cool this weekend was hearing my relatives -- just regular folks who are in the grandparent age range -- talk about closing the recycling loop and using Cedar Grove compost that they can buy at garden centers around town. That they've moved past the ick factor, and made the leap from throwing away organic food wastes to curbside composting/food recycling. It gives me hope for all Americans. I realize Portland and Seattle are advanced green places, green bubbles, but still, it gives me hope. If these cities can do it, other cities across the country can learn from this model and apply the process locally. Then curbide food scrap recycling will happen everywhere. Indeed! Someday my prince shall come!! And everyone will be able to mange One Can A Month! Or even have once a month garbage that is half full (as my smiling babe was happy to pose by in the photo)!! And we'll be on Oprah, who'll be thanking us! Oh, it's just too wonderful. I need to stop now.