WILMOT — On Behalf of the Wilmot Waste Reduction Advisory Committee: Before I get into this month’s topic, I wanted to share some feedback I have received regarding the recent initiative to recycle both aluminum cans and the light metal containers (tin cans, jar lids, pie plates, etc.) I was speaking with Gary, one of the attendants at the Transfer Station, and asked him for his perspective on how it was going with these new recycling offerings.  

Gary indicated that the volume of recycling of both types of materials has grown significantly in the past few months and that those who have chosen to participate are doing an excellent job cleaning the containers and putting them in the correct locations; thank you for this. He does see a few tin cans/plastic containers in with the aluminum cans, but it is minimal, and he is able to easily remove them. Gary has designated barrels for the light metal container recycling, and the amount of this material being recycled has grown to the point that he needs more barrels (this sounds like a good problem to me).  

Finally, Gary did mention that it would be helpful if folks could crush their aluminum cans, as he has been crushing them with the backhoe and the cans are so light that they tend to pop up in the air on him. It becomes a time-consuming process to get them all crushed down. For those who are recycling this material (or are considering recycling going forward), keep up the good work.

Did you know that, according to the EPA, 24 percent of the weight of MSW (municipal solid waste) is kitchen food scraps? Given that Wilmot generated 550 tons of MSW in 2024, that works out to 132 tons of food scraps that the Town of Wilmot sent to the landfill last year. 

At the current rate of $135/ton to dispose of MSW, that is a cost of $17,820 (and the consumption of valuable landfill space). Composting food scraps, instead of putting them in the trash, is an easy way to make a significant contribution to reducing Wilmot’s MSW volume. 

For approximately $100, my wife and I bought a black plastic 65-gallon covered outdoor compost bin and a 1-gallon stainless steel pail next to the sink. We put all of our food scraps (except meat, bones, and cheese, as these attract animals) in the – gallon pail, and about twice a week we dump that into the outdoor bin. If we make sure to empty the outdoor bin in the fall, before winter, we have plenty of space to get through winter (when things do not compost since they are frozen).  

There are only two of us, so a larger family might need two outdoor bins. Our goal is to eliminate the food scraps from the trash we take to the Transfer Station and not use the end product for gardening. For those who want to use the compost for gardening, I am sure there are additional processes to follow to improve the end product, but that is beyond the scope of this article. 

Since we use a covered plastic container compost bin, we have not had any rodent activity. The bin is about 20 feet from our back door and there is no odor issue either.  We did have a bear visit the compost bin one time shortly after we started composting. The bear knocked over the bin and was very disappointed in what he found. 

The bear left and has not been back since, so as long as you do not attempt to compost meat or cheese, bears should not be an issue. Composting has become part of our daily routine, and it is amazing how light the bag of trash is that we take to the Transfer Station.  Please consider adding food scrap composting to your household routine as well.