New York’s New Food Compost Program: Bloomberg Thinks It’s Time

This week New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s new mission to require food composting made headlines. The plan to begin collecting food scraps across the city has been called ambitious by some, though other cities like Seattle and San Francisco have had success with food compost programs.

The intention of the proposed program is to decrease residential food waste.  Initially the program will be voluntary but Bloomberg’s administration is hopeful that within a few years it’ll become mandatory.

Sanitation officials said more than 5 percent of households in the city would be on board voluntarily by next year, and more than 600 schools will take part as well.

 As a former NYC resident, I feel I was potentially more attentive to food waste while living in a city where virtually no one has a garbage disposal, and choices are limited to figuring out a way to compost or to trash scraps. This made me hyper-aware of my personal food waste, and I remember hearing similar sentiments from other residents. Once the compost program is in motion, perhaps New Yorkers may hop on faster than expected?

Of course it’s worth noting that Bloomberg is only in office until the end of the year and it’s not a given that his successor will keep a composting program going. However, two leading Democratic candidates for mayor, Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, have reportedly expressed support for the plan.

Philadelphia does have some composting options but they are all paid subscriptions. Instead, the city has pushed for garbage disposals with a partnership of InSinkErator.

Readers, what do you think? Should Mayor Nutter spearhead a similar pilot food compost program for Philly? 

Photo credit: The New York Times