Denver to continue city compost pilot for $90 a year

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Last month, I wrote about a grassroots effort to save the City of Denver, Colorado’s city composting pilot program. The program collects compostable waste in big green carts from 3,300 homes in select (mostly well-to-do … this plays a part in a moment) neighborhoods. The pilot program had grant funding, but because the city, like so many others, is facing an enormous budget shortfall, the program was set to expire March 1.

Now, however, The Denver Post reports that residents can continue the program for a $90 annual fee, billed in three installments throughout the year. Denver residents do not pay for trash or recycling collection — that is, those fees are included in property tax — so the fee is unusual. In other city waste management news, we’ve had changes this year to large-item pickup (now scheduled every 9 weeks on a rotating schedule, instead of every other week) and hazardous waste collection (previously, it was free once per year; now it costs a $20 co-payment).

One commenter on the article suggested that instead of charging fees to people who are reducing waste by composting it, the city should charge everyone for trash collection. That sounds reasonable to me (and is a suggestion I supported on a survey circulated last year by our mayor, which reached us via our City Council member’s newsletter, on citizens’ opinions of how the city should resolve its budget deficit).

However, I think part of the argument for charging for the composting program is that it is in high demand, and seen almost as a privilege to participate — in part because the city composting program collects more than most people can adequately compost at home. And because service targets more privileged neighborhoods, most customers will likely be willing and able to pay for the service.

If you are interested in learning more about Denver’s city compost program, its Web site features an Organics Program page here.

For more information on home composting, here are some links that might interest you:

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Comments ( 7 )

[...] Denver to continue city compost pilot for $90 a year | Cheap Like Me: Denver’s city compost program continues, and… http://bit.ly/aiONBu [...]

Fresh From Twitter: Denver to continue … / Worm Farming Books added these pithy words on Feb 08 10 at 8:58 am

i’m glad to hear that the composting program will continue! it’s also interesting that the trash pickup fee is included in property taxes bc in California, it’s all separate. We pay for trash/recycling/green bins quarterly.

and i agree with you on the trash fee vs. the composting fee, but i also understand the reasoning behind the composting fee given the demographic you described. I’ll be curious to hear more about this as the program proceeds this upcoming year.

kimchi added these pithy words on Feb 08 10 at 11:28 am

@kimchi – Many local towns, including suburbs, charge for trash collection — Denver’s more of an exception than the rule in this region.

Cheap Like Me added these pithy words on Feb 08 10 at 12:06 pm

Nope I pay waste management to haul off my garbage. We have recycling, yard waste (also doubles as food waste)and of course garbage. Think I would like it better if it was included in my taxes! But not A big deal.

Rob added these pithy words on Feb 08 10 at 4:06 pm

Ah well, at least you have yard waste collection! We have no green/yard/compost collection (beyond garbage) unless you’re in the project area, which is just a few neighborhoods — or 3,500 out of 250,000 households!

Cheap Like Me added these pithy words on Feb 08 10 at 5:58 pm

Yay! Thanks for posting about this–I’ve just spread the word among the locals I know who are interested in the program, and now I’ll be keeping an eye out for the billing form. Although… yes… I agree that it seems a little backward to charge only those of us who are trying to reduce the stream of trash in a productive fashion!

L'an added these pithy words on Feb 08 10 at 11:26 pm

Hello,

You are really helping the people who wants to keep the earth clean. Your articles inspiring a lot of people.

Jimmie Scott G
Composter Reviews