28 May, 2024
The Hopkinton Sustainable Green Committee is pleased to launch a composting campaign to help the town reduce waste and carbon emissions. As part of this, the Town voted to fund 150 Black Earth composting starter kits at the May Town Meeting (through the participatory budget) and will begin offering those immediately.
Food scraps represent 22% of the average household’s trash, according to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
Composting food scraps, instead of including them with garbage, is one of the easiest and most impactful ways to reduce emissions.
- As trash, food scraps represent a wasted resource that creates carbon emissions through incineration (in Hopkinton’s case) or methane when rotting in a landfill.
+ As compost, food scraps instead represent a resource that can return nutrients to the soil and create a natural fertilizer.
+ Composting benefits the environment generally and reduces our Town’s carbon emissions and cost of trash incineration.
There are several methods for composting. The most common are a backyard plot, a backyard composting bin, or a curbside service such as Black Earth.
To learn more about these methods and composting in general, visit HopGreen.org/zero-waste/composting.
You can also attend an informative session, “Get the Dirt on Composting,” at the Hopkinton Public Library on June 6 from 6:30-7:45pm.
The Sustainable Green Committee expects many residents will be interested in the ease of curbside composting as well as the wider list of food scraps that can be composted with Black Earth. Starting now, the Town is offering a free 13-gallon composting bin with a locking lid and a roll of liners to the first 150 residents who sign up for Black Earth’s service. Black Earth offers curbside pick-up on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, for $20.99 per month or $15.99 per month, respectively. Anyone signing up between now and January 2025 will also receive a free bag of composted soil next Spring. For details and to sign up, visit Black Earth’s website blackearthcompost.com/hopkinton. The starter kit will be automatically included at no cost (no need to enter a special code) and delivery details will be given as part of the welcome process.
Once Hopkinton reaches 300 Black Earth subscribers, prices will drop by 20% for all subscribers. There are currently 150 subscribers, which is halfway there.
If you have questions or comments, reach out to hopgreenma@gmail.com.
