University of Georgia scientists are teaming up with Athens-Clarke County government to test-run a composting program beginning in 2024.
Composting may be icky, but it is an essential way for Athens households to lower their impact on the climate, says UGA scientist Evan White:
“The mission of the project is trying to figure out models for organics collection that would work across the United States, and the big motivation for that is because of the food waste our country produces that we send to landfills. It’s about one out of every four, every five pounds that’s the landfill mass. And it accounts for somewhere between 50 and 55 million metric tons equivalent of CO2, which might not be large in the grand scheme of global emissions, but it is a type of emission that each individual can help mitigate.”
White is a scientist with the New Materials Institute at UGA, and his job is to develop the infrastructure that will help turn Athenian food waste into compost.
The project will run from early February to early May and is still looking for households to participate in certain areas. Residents of the Normaltown and Boulevard neighborhoods are invited to sign up at http://www.accgov.com/composttrial . Over 250 households have already signed on, and signups for the composting pilot will close once 400 households have committed to participate.
