From recycling to changing to a plant based diet to carpooling or biking around Athens, there are many ways that people can reduce their carbon footprint even with their busy college schedules. Composting is another way to help reduce food waste and production of greenhouse gasses like methane, and with its rise in popularity it is now getting easier and easier.
“Composting is just the right thing to do in every way,” Kristen Baskin, the 33-year-old owner of Let Us Compost said. “Food does not belong in a landfill, it produces a ton of methane which is one of the most potent greenhouse gases. If you have a place to compost, it is always the best option.”
Let Us Compost is a local Athens business striving to make composting more of an accessible service for residents of Athens, Watkinsville and even some parts of Atlanta. This business provides curbside composting services to people living in dorms, apartments, households and other businesses as well.
“About 30 percent of our residential clients live in either apartments or condos,” Baskin said. “When you don’t have a backyard, we give you a five-gallon bucket and you set it outside your doorstep and we come right to your door and pick it up.”
In addition to helping reduce the methane production as well as reducing food waste on a daily basis, composting also helps improve the sustainability of municipalities in Athens and saves taxpayers money.
One of the most important things about composting is that it takes food away from recycling. Within the single-stream recycling division offered to Athens residents, nothing can be recycled that has a speck of food in it, according to Suki Janssen, the Director of Athens-Clarke County Solid Waste Department since 2015.
When composting, you get into the habit of removing the food from the recycling and the trash which then allows the recycling process to be more sustainable because they are able to recycle more and spend less time and money sifting through food-contaminated un-recyclables.
“At the end of the day, if our community can actually make money on the recycling, we are bringing more money into Athens and this makes recycling more sustainable,” Baskin said. “Long-term, financially, it is the right thing for our whole community, even though it might seem expensive in the moment.”
To read the full story, visit http://www.redandblack.com/culture/reducing-recycling-green-business-and-waste-department-talk-composting-in/article_0e84ba1e-b235-11e7-9e4b-677374df0303.html.