COMPOSTING COMES TO THE ESPLANADE!

Sparked by a proposal from a group of interested residents, the BOT approved, and management facilitated the adoption of an exciting “green” initiative this summer. In collaboration with the City of Cambridge, our building now offers composting of food scraps to all interested residents.

To introduce the program and answer questions, Deb Albenberg, the City’s Director of Waste Reduction Management, met with an enthusiastic group of Esplanade residents in June. Composting significantly reduces wear and tear on garbage disposals and drain pipes, and diminishes the amount of bagged waste thrown down our building’s garbage chutes; it also protects the climate by reducing trash taken to landfills, where food waste releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. 

Cambridge offers composting free of charge to residential buildings, and provides participants with a kitchen collection bin and starter supply of liners, along with information about material acceptable for composting (fish, meat, bones, dairy, flowers, bread, nutshells, paper towels.…) A large, green, self-locking, pest-resistant container for disposal of compostable material collected in kitchen bins is located in the garage on Level 1, beside the recycle barrels. The DPW empties this barrel weekly (on Thursdays), and transports the contents to be processed into heat, electricity, and compost for area gardens.

The response from residents so far has been very positive! If you don’t yet participate in this excellent, earth-friendly project and would like to do so, contact Ed Luciano, who will provide you with a bin, liners and more information.

The compost committee (Irene Merwin, Pam McLemore, Caroline Kurtz and Dipti Sharma)