Somerville has planted 10 food waste drop-off bins across the city to make it easier for residents to compost food scraps.
Placement of the adapted Big Belly garbage bins builds on composting efforts such as a curbside food waste collection test in East Somerville and the thousands of households that have a private curbside collection service, said a city spokesperson, Victoria MacGregor.
The bins are ready for use in locations such as in Union Square and on Central Hill, on Holland Street near Teele Square and College Avenue near Davis Square. Others are near homes in East Somerville, near Magoun Square and among the Mystic River Apartments in the Ten Hills neighborhood.
Somerville has a Zero Waste Plan that hopes to reduce its trash by 30 percent as of 2030 and 90 percent as of 2050, using 2021 as a baseline; collecting plant and animal waste and compostable paper keeps them out of landfill so they can be turned into compost and used to fertilize soil, the city said.
The bins were voted for in a participatory budgeting process to allot $1 million. In this second participatory budgeting cycle, there were more than 4,200 votes, and earmarking $125,000 for the bins was among six winners.
“Even a banana peel can be part of our response to climate change,” mayor Jake Wilson said in a Wednesday press release. “Residents voted for this project because they wanted composting to be an option for more of their neighbors. These bins give everyone in Somerville a free way to turn food scraps into something useful while keeping food out of the trash and away from rats.”
Using the bins is not as simple as walking up to one and dumping a compostable bag: A one-time online registration is needed, and a QR access code must either be scanned on a bin or taken from a 311 call. “Registration helps the city understand how residents use the bins and plan next steps for the program,” MacGregor said.
A bin makes a cameo as part of an annual Pumpkin Smash from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 7 at Chuckie Harris Park, 15 Cross St. E, East Somerville. After making compostable scraps at the smash, participants can walk over to dispose of them in a bin outside the neighborhood’s branch library.
Information is at somervillema.gov/foodwaste.
