"The City of Asheville, in partnership with Buncombe County and the Natural Resources Defense Council, is offering a FREE Food Scrap Drop-Off program...for all Buncombe County residents. This organic matter will be collected and turned into good clean compost, keeping it OUT of our landfill and reducing greenhouse gas emissions." (via CoA website)
As part of the expansion of this program, the Oakley Library and Murphy Oakley Community Center are now the newest free community compost drop-off location. (The other two sites include the Stephens-Lee Recreation Center in downtown Asheville, and the Buncombe County Landfill in Alexander.)
Food waste has been listed as one of the top contributors to climate change, with the largest percentage in America happening at the consumer level. Since this free community composting program launched in October, almost 38 tons of organic matter has been diverted from the landfill. And now Oakley is poised to help grow that program even further.
In order to get access to the drop-off bins, you just need to register at the City of Asheville's Composting page - it's totally free! You can also sign up to receive a free countertop food scrap bin on the same form - just add a note in the comments field.
After you receive your registration confirmation, just grab a scrap pail, and start composting! It's quick, easy, and convenient. Bonus - you can deal with your food scraps more sustainably without worrying about the local bears crashing the party.
We're so excited to see such a useful and environmentally beneficial program coming to Oakley, and look forward to seeing it expand into even more neighborhoods as participation increases.