Orange County residents and businesses successfully diverted over 946,000 pounds of trash from local landfills over the last year, according to the county’s compost report published in October. Orange County’s commercial food waste collection program includes five drop-off sites and is offered at no cost to businesses and restaurants. About 50 businesses use the program, including restaurants, flower shops and cafes.
Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger, who is on the Solid Waste Advisory Group for Orange County, said the program started small but has grown significantly. “It was grocery stores at first, and they kind of took it upon themselves to continue on because they realized it wasn’t that big a deal for them to sort it that way,” she said. “And they saved money from hauling the garbage off, so it actually saved them some money just to get in the habit.”
The Purple Bowl, an eatery on Franklin Street, is one business that uses compostable products for its takeout containers. “When you produce a lot of trash, you choose to help with that when you use compostable packaging,” Sabine Farer-Buers, general manager of The Purple Bowl, said. “Especially during COVID, takeout has gotten so much bigger. Even though it’s more expensive for us, it’s better for the environment.” Farer-Buers said The Purple Bowl is trying to use compostable products, but not all of their current takeout containers are compostable due to shortages caused by COVID-19.