Compost pickup service offered in Albany
With their help, trash becomes treasure.
Your orange peels and coffee grounds can make Albany a better place.
If you like the idea of composting but don't have the space, time or inclination to do it on your own property, the Radix Ecological Sustainability Center is offering Albany residents a pickup service. You place your food scraps in a container fitted with an odor-filtering lid and set it out once a week for collection.
The Radix Center, an educational organization that looks to teach city dwellers how to grow their own food, will use the resulting compost to remediate the soil of their Mansion Neighborhood site. They're building a greenhouse in a vacant lot at Grand and Warren streets.
So far, says Radix's Scott Kellogg, they've gotten a "pretty positive response" to the compost pickup program.
There is a monthly fee, but you'll be keeping more stuff out of the landfill and assist in the development of an urban sustainability project. And you'll make a lot of red wigglers really happy.
Previously on AOA: The Radix Ecological Sustainability Center
Photo: Flikr user crabchick
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Comments
That's super neat! I had a compost back up north and it was the best thing ever. I always wished there was a way to do it in a city environment.
... said AJ on Apr 20, 2011 at 1:44 PM | link
Maybe I'm missing the point here, but I'd be totally into this if they weren't charging a fee (or if it was less, say $5 a month). I understand that this is a nonprofit organization and a good cause, but I'd be more likely to participate if I could collect my own compost and deliver it to them once per week with no fee.
... said shannon on Apr 20, 2011 at 2:35 PM | link
Wow!
They charge $20 for a container and $15/months for the pickup!
A nice rotating backyard composter is less than $100 at Ocean State and will last for quite a while.
... said Lu on Apr 20, 2011 at 3:08 PM | link
Sorry, but get real. $20 for the container and $15 a month? There are cheaper (free) ways to compost in the city, and you can donate your scraps to gardening friends or a community garden for nuthin'.
... said chrisck on Apr 20, 2011 at 3:10 PM | link
Great idea.
But we'll stick with "things you can toss over your fence" for $0, Alex.
... said abby on Apr 20, 2011 at 4:29 PM | link
At least they're not using chickens
... said Andrew Gregory on Apr 20, 2011 at 8:57 PM | link
I actually think this is a great service and have been using it for the past couple of months. We did compost in our backyard for awhile. It was messy, our dogs would eat from it and get sick, and we weren't very good at adding the appropriate "roughage" to keep it healthy and non-stinky.
With the compost service from Radix, I paid my $20 one-time fee for a really nice container that fits perfectly under my sink and has an odor filter. I put my container out every Wednesday, they collect it, and leave me with a new compostable bag. Sure, I live right down the street from the Radix Center and could easily bring it there for free or give it to my gardening friends, but I really like supporting this organization. They are doing amazing, innovative, transformative work in our city. I'd gladly donate $15 a month to them for nothing in exchange, but instead I get to participate in a really cool project and don't have to think twice about maintaining a compost pile.
This service is perfect for people with small backyards, apartment-building dwellers, and busy people who want to do right by the environment by composting but don't have the time or space to keep it up.
It's amazing that things like this exist in Albany. I'm really excited to see the evolution of the Radix Center, and am grateful that I only have to look down my block to do so.
... said Jen on Apr 21, 2011 at 8:46 AM | link
I'd do it. I live in an apt, have very little use for compost myself and don't have any method of delivering anything I composted anywhere. For me $15 is the cost of three happy hour drinks, or 4 fancy coffees. I've spent more for less useful reasons.
... said Honey on Apr 21, 2011 at 3:31 PM | link
I compost here in the city and find it easy to do. I think about it every time I am hauling less trash out to my curb on trash pickup day, and when I read about the woes of our overflowing landfill. So for those who can't or won't compost I think this is a great idea. While $15 might seem like a lot, if you look at the value of reducing your own waste while supporting a worthwhile organization, then it's a good deal. And the $20 container is a one time fee- you can use it should you start composting on your own.
... said Sam on Apr 21, 2011 at 4:14 PM | link
When Albany starts looking into pay as you throw again, the cost will seem much more palatable.
You may be surprised at the amount of compostable waste you produce.
... said B on Apr 21, 2011 at 4:34 PM | link