I mentioned in an earlier column that the Recycling & Sustainability Committee had requested and secured a grant from the Maine DEP to promote and improve our recycling of organics in town.
There are two major components to how we are using that grant. One is to fund an Intern with the Public Works Dept. whose job is to develop new educational materials and ways of reaching the public about organics recycling. The second component is to move the program forward directly by offering the public some subsidized equipment for backyard composting.
To that end, the Public Works Dept has purchased a selection of backyard composting equipment, and is offering it to the public at the prices shown below (according to the director of Public Works).
Public Works began selling these materials (from the Public Works Office on Industry Road) on Tuesday, June 21 . They are to be sold to Brunswick citizens every weekday during normal working hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., for cash or check only, until they run out.
The materials and prices are:
-$25 – Brooks Trap Mill Lobster Trap Wire Composter
-$15 – Earth Machine Compost Bin (80-gallon capacity)
-$5 – Stainless Steel Kitchen Scrap Pail (1.3-gallon capacity)
The Brooks device is basically a cylinder of lobster trap wire. They are three feet across, and three feet high, with a wire top that is easily removed to add materials. My research suggests these would be especially good for basic backyard waste, plus a small amount of food waste.
The Earth Machine unit is a circular recycled plastic device with a top that easily unlocks to add material, and a door arrangement at the bottom for harvesting the compost. That unit, I suspect, will be less attractive to critters if you plan to use it for extensive amounts of food waste. I’ve used one similar to it for several years, and harvested about 40 gallons a year of compost.
Everyone can use the stainless steel caddies for collecting the food waste in the kitchen without odors or attracting flies. Either composter units retails for $100 or more, and the kitchen caddies for about $15-$20 in most places.
There were 24 of the wire composters available at the start of the sale, plus 40 of the Earth machines. And 240 kitchen caddies. That’s not a lot for a town of our size, so you might or might not still find one when you inquire at the Public Works Office, but I have been assured by our Intern that they intend to order more when these run out.
If there are none left, be sure to note that a formally designated “composter” is not required to do the job — they just work better and digest more stuff. An Internet search for trap wire composters, for example, will yield several nice designs that are easily copied at home or can be purchased all made up. Trap wire, or even chicken wire, will work well for yard waste. You can also use old wooden pallets, which work very nicely for leaves and dead plants, etc. If you just pile the stuff on the ground, it will compost, but that will attract varmints if there are any food scraps in the pile and you still need to turn it every so often to keep a supply of air inside it.
I was also asked to note that our intern, Eliza Blood, will be giving a public presentation on food waste recycling at the Brunswick Town Hall on June 30, from 6:30-8 p.m. She will, of course, be available at the end of the talk for any and all your questions about organics recycling. We encourage you to ask away!
The Recycle Bin is a weekly column on what to recycle, what not to recycle, and why, in Brunswick. The public is encouraged to submit questions by email to brunsrecycleinfo@gmail.com. Harry Hopcroft is a member of the Brunswick Recycling and Sustainability Committee. This column is a product of his own research.
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