Public Comment: Zero Waste Amherst Proposal For Universal Compost Pickup Will Significantly Reduce Waste And Save Residents Money
Photo: grownashua.org. Creative Commons
The following public Comment was submitted in writing to the Amherst Board Of Health on May 4, 2022 for their meeting on May 5, 2022.
This is an update on the Zero Waster Amherst hauler reform proposal to provide universal curbside compost pick up. If you recall, in January, this board requested input from the Town Manager and the Town Council on how to move the proposal forward. I would be interested to hear if you have heard back from either of those bodies based on that request.
Meanwhile, ZWA has been hard at work, doing outreach at the Amherst Farmers Market and meeting with Councilors. One Councilor asked for a good analysis of before and after – how adopting this proposal would affect residents and the town. We told her that we can provide plenty of information about how it would affect residents and the environment positively, and that we have cost figures for other municipalities, but we have no way of calculating how much it would cost Amherst in staffing, etc. because there are a number of variables specific to Amherst that need to be looked at by town staff in order to determine alternate cost scenarios. We believe that the upfront cost of simply changing to a contract with the hauler and using a town billing system, and of ongoing staffing for that system, would be minimal at the start and we are confident that in the long run that this would save the town money as well.
We expect a proposal to be on the Town Council agenda in May and hope to get proposed amended regulations back to the Board of Health soon. (But then, I am an optimist.)
ZWA had a discussion with one local farmer about future possibilities for local compost processing.
The proposal scored a new endorser – Amherst Sunrise Movement. Our local youth environmental activists are now on board.
Darcy DuMont
Darcy DuMont is a founding member of Zero Waste Amherst and of Local Energy Advocates of Western MA. As a town councilor, she sponsored the legislation creating the Amherst Energy and Climate Action Committee.