SIGN THE PETITION:
Monroe County needs Composting Facilities
There is an urgent need for Monroe County to create its own compost facilities:
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to meet the goals of the CLCPA
(New York's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act);
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to create a circular economy of organic materials and thus improve our soils and reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
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to reduce truck traffic and fuel consumption/emissions;
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and reduce landfill needs.
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Climate can't wait! Sign the petition
Members of the Color Your Community Green network of volunteer climate activists have put together a petition that will be presented to Monroe County Legislators in July.
We have already collected hundreds of signatures (on paper)
at Fairport Canal Days and other recent in-person events in support of the idea of creating compost facilities within Monroe County.
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Add your name to our growing list of supporters today!
Note: If you already signed our petition on paper, you're all set! Please do not sign (again) online.
Why is having local food waste composting facilities crucial?
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Composting is a high-priority component of mitigating climate change! Monroe County needs to enable effective composting of food waste across the region.
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Organic wastes in a landfill decompose anaerobically, producing methane — an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
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The current commercial hauler of household food waste in this region must truck it out of the county to be composted - a waste of fuel, causing emissions of CO2 and other toxic combustion products; with increasing fuel prices, this is becoming economically unsustainable
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Food waste generated in Monroe County should remain in the county and provide a soil amendment for our regional farmers and gardeners, creating jobs and decreasing our reliance on other counties.
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Composting food scraps produces a valuable soil additive, returning nutrients and organic matter to restore soil fertility, enhance carbon sequestration within the soil, increase water retention, decrease rainwater runoff.
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A readily available source of compost might be an important incentive in encouraging our farmers to adopt regenerative methods of agriculture — another critical and high-impact step towards mitigating climate change!
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As of January 2022, NY State Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law now requires large food waste producers to have their waste trucked to a digester or other “recycling” facility such as composting, if one exists within 25 miles. If no such facilities exist, that waste will likely be landfilled. Monroe County needs to ensure that such a facility is available so that all our regional businesses / food waste producers can comply with this law. Eventually this law will expand to include smaller-level producers...hence further increasing the need for local composting facility availability!
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While each municipality around the county can arrange for collection of food scraps from its residents and businesses, large scale facilities are needed where this material can be efficiently composted within the county. Many suburban towns have an area where leaves, etc. are already composted; these could provide a starting point for building food waste composting capability.
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The facility in Geneva NY, run by Closed Loop Systems and built by a local engineering firm, provides an excellent model for Monroe County to adopt. Furthermore, their vermi-composting accommodates meat and dairy wastes as well as fruit/vegetable scraps. Once sites are identified within Monroe County, effective facilities of this type could be constructed and become operational fairly quickly.
This effort is a collaboration between several 'Color Your Community Green' groups.