Users bring their food waste to the Locust Street transfer station in containers and dump it in lined bins.
Northampton's Food Waste Program is a handy way to keep bears out of your trash.NORTHAMPTON — Ever agonize over what to do with that turkey grease from Thanksgiving? It stinks if you put it in the trash, not to mention the maggots. Pouring it down the drain is money for the plumber. And what about those leftover bones?
The Department of Public Works has been working on an environmentally friendly alternative, and as it enters its third year, more and more Northampton residents are taking advantage of it. The Food Waste Program accepts meat, bones, grease, oils, used paper plates, stained pizza boxes and just about everything else people can’t recycle or throw in their household compost pile.
Last year alone, the program collected some 50 tons of food waste, which is trucked by Alternative Recycling Systems to a facility in Belchertown especially set up to compost such waste.
The fee for membership in the program is $15 a year, an amount users easily save by reducing the household trash they bring to the city’s transfer stations, according to Karen Bouquillon, the Solid Waste Supervisor for the department. Although membership dropped off from a high of 353 when the city discontinued the senior discount, it has begun to spike again on the heels of a city ordinance that established a fine for feeding wild animals such as bears.
Users bring their food waste to the Locust Street transfer station in containers and dump it in lined bins. Workers stamp their membership cards. While leftovers such as potato peels, coffee grounds and egg shells are fine for a compost pile, Bouquillon said raw and cooked meats, fish, dairy and cooking oils can stink and attract wild animals like bears and raccoons.
Membership in the Food Waste Program is particularly handy after parties.
“We try to promote around the holidays because food waste increases significantly,” Bouquillon said.
Membership cards can be obtained at the department’s 125 Locust St. headquarters on most Thursdays. For more information, email or call Bouquillon at kbouquillon@nohodpw.org or 587-1059.