Do Oak Parkers really want a third trash can behind their garage?
How will they feel about setting aside food scraps as a new category?
Those are some questions village hall is exploring as it promotes a new pilot program allowing residents to pile up organic waste for composting. Officials have a third public forum on the topic planned for 7 p.m., Feb. 16, at Ascension School, 601 Van Buren St.
Oak Park wants to limit the amount of waste traveling to landfills by encouraging composting. Other communities on the West Coast have tried such programs, which seemingly fits with the village’s efforts to go green and become an environmental leader in the region, said Village Manager Tom Barwin.
“Not many communities in America, at least this side of the Mississippi, have been able to pursue this,” he said.
The pilot program will run from April 2 to Nov. 30 and will be available to about 1,300 homes south of the expressway, from Harlem to East Avenue. Officials said they picked that area because it’s close to the waste hauler’s facility, plus residents there use yard waste bags frequently.
Anyone interested has until March 2 to sign up, whether by mail or phone at 708-358-5700. Participants then receive a third trash bin, 96 gallons in size, to place next to existing recycling and garbage containers. Acceptable materials include yard waste (grass, leaves, brush), food scraps (meat, bread, veggies), and soiled or unsoiled paper products (paper towels, pizza boxes, cups).
The organic junk would then be carted off to a commercial composting facility to be turned into yard food for sale.
Participants would pay an extra $12 each month for a composting bin, roughly the cost of buying one yard waste bag and sticker each week. Residents now pay $21.15 a month for a large garbage can and $17.90 for the smaller one.
Stuart Barnes Jamieson, 52, attended another forum on the program last week, but doesn’t think he would take advantage of the offering. He’s already been composting in his backyard for the past 12 years.
“But if, for whatever reason, people aren’t backyard composting, this would give them a chance to do it in a relatively simple and painless way,” Jamieson said.
Carolyn Cullen, 45, also composts her organic waste, though not all of it. She plans to take advantage of the program to recycle those paper products that can’t go in the blue bin. The $12 upcharge could be a hurdle, Cullen added, though she may split a container with a neighbor.
“I like the additional items that they can take that I wouldn’t compost myself, but that I’d rather not just throw away like we typically have,” she said.