In 2017, the Town of Mamaroneck and Village of Larchmont jointly started the third food scrap recycling program in the county. The Village of Mamaroneck followed in 2018. Close to a thousand families in our tri-municipality are participating. Is your household one of them?
If not, join your neighbors and give it a try! Email the Town's Sustainability Coordinator to learn more if you are a resident of the Town of Mamaroneck or the Village of Larchmont or email Sanitation@VOMNY.org to learn more if you are a resident of the Village of Mamaroneck.
Once you start composting food scraps, you’ll be amazed at how little trash is leftover. Not only that, but we promise: composting your food scraps feels so much better than throwing them away. Give it a try for one week, and you’ll see what we mean!
Compostingmatters. When we recycle our food scraps, the nutrient-rich compost that gets created supports the regeneration of imperiled topsoil, helps grow more food without the use of toxic chemicals, and fights climate change by sequestering excess carbon dioxide into the earth.
Composting with Local Drop-Off Sites
Collect Your Food Scraps
Collect meat, bones, dairy, fruit, vegetables, and grains into a countertop pail that you can line with paper bags, newspaper, or a compostable bag. Compostable bags are available for purchase from the Maxwell Avenue Recycling Center or Fayette Avenue Recycling Center. (roll of 25 bags is $3/roll).
Not All Bags are Created Equal
If you use the compostable bags provided by your recycling center, you’ll have the right bags. The magic words that ensure your bag is compostable at industrial facilities is: BPI-certified compostable. Or, look for the logo shown below.
Transfer to Larger Bin
When your countertop pail gets full, transfer contents to a larger six-gallon bin with a lid. Compost kits with these two-sized pails and compostable bags are available from the Town of Mamaroneck and Village of Mamaroneck.
Every spring, the Town holds a compost give-back day at the Maxwell Avenue Recycling Center. The Village of Mamaroneck had a compost give-back in June 2018 and expects to do so annually. You can fill buckets with soil enriching compost to add to your vegetable and flower garden. Once you try this vibrant compost, you’ll see why it’s called “black gold!”
Burying or Burning Food is a Dead End
When we throw food scraps in the trash, they're either incinerated or buried at a landfill, ending the life-cycle of the material and generating greenhouse gases like methane and CO2. We also lose the opportunity to convert food scraps into beneficial compost to be used as a natural fertilizer on local farms.
Compost is a Climate Superhero
Reducing wasted food is always the priority, but if we must toss the leftovers, then composting is the way to go. Studies show that compost helps to cool the planet! When a thin layer of compost is spread on rangeland, grasses grow that sequester tons of carbon from the atmosphere. This is really good news!