Letters

Early this year, the Town of Southampton began a food scrap composting pilot program at the Hampton Bays transfer station. By simply locating a half dozen garbage bins for residents to separately dispose of their food scraps, an alternative was presented to throwing them away with the rest of household trash. The successful pilot was expanded on April 1 to both the North Sea and Sag Harbor transfer stations.

This may not sound like a big deal, but consider: In four months, by July 30, the Town Engineer Tom Houghton, reported the following totals: North Sea, 2,190 pounds; Hampton Bays, 2,596 pounds, Sag Harbor, 3,980 pounds.

Total: 8,766 pounds — more than four tons!

What can be composted? Basically, fruits, vegetables (no stickers!), bread/pasta products, and coffee grounds are okay, but not fish, meat, dairy, fats/oils, tea bags. A household of four people will generate 10 pounds of green scraps per week.

How does it work? It is a win-win: Any resident can immediately save money by separating scraps and using fewer green bags! The Town of Southampton will save some money: Decreasing the amount of solid waste in green bags decreases the amount paid for trash to be hauled away. If 200 households divert their food scraps, that would reduce the weight of garbage being carted away by 50 tons per year.

Instead of hauling the food waste to be burned or buried in a distant landfill, the scraps from Sag Harbor will be moved to the transfer station at North Sea. There, and in Hampton Bays, staff will be using the scraps, rich in nitrogen, to make compost by adding the plentiful yard waste there, rich in carbon and the only other ingredient needed to make compost. After it cures for several months, the compost will be made available for town residents to pick up at no cost.

There’s one other significant benefit: Once you begin diverting food scraps, you become more aware of what you are consuming every day and how much you are throwing away. Before you know it, reduce, reuse and recycle will be a part of daily life. This is critical for all of us if we want to preserve and protect our incredible natural heritage here on the East End.

Want to learn more? Visit southamptontownny.gov and click on “Green Advisory Committee.” This marks an important step forward on the path to building a more sustainable future for our community. It’s a win-win-win proposition for all of us.

Mary Ann Eddy

Sag Harbor

Eddy is a member of the Sag Harbor Village Environmental Advisory Committee and an adjunct member of the Southampton Town Sustainability Advisory Committee — Ed.