BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — The city of Bowling Green's residential food waste drop-off program is off to a successful start.
The program was started to reduce the amount of food waste being sent to the landfills. The EPA says in 2018 alone, more than 63 million tons of food was wasted, and about 40% of that came from households.
With the food waste drop-off program, all food waste collected will be taken to a certified facility to be composted.
Accepted items residents can drop off are:
- Baked goods and pasta
- Beans and eggs
- Fats and sugars
- Fruits and veggies
- Greasy pizza boxes
- Paper towels and napkins (unlined paper items)
- Raw/cooked meat, bones and dairy
Plastics, including plastic bags, are not accepted.
The city said the program started off with six bins, but quickly needed to be doubled. Now entering its fourth month of collections, about 6.5 tons of food waste has been collected.
Amanda Gamby, the sustainability coordinator with the city of Bowling Green, said the pilot program is over in September. However, they are working to make this program permanent.
"We wanted to get a few months under our belts with some weight. We're going to be surveying participants to get their feedback and so we'll be starting to put together those initial reports so those decisions can start to be discussed," said Gamby.
According to the city of Bowling Green's website, a recommendation will be made in August to determine the future of the site.
The city is still offering free five-gallon food waste buckets if you would like to participate in the program. You are not required to use the city's bucket to do so.
There are containers being the Public Works garage near the public yard waste drop-off on Tarragon Dr. where residents can drop off any food-waste.
The city says food waste cannot be left in the yard waste collection area, and yard waste cannot be left in the food waste area.