Fall 2024

Update on Arlington's Food Scrap Diversion Program

In October, Recycling Coordinator Charlotte Milan spoke at the MA Department of Environmental Protection subcommittee meeting for organics. 25 Video Recording

Backyard Compost Bins Available to Purchase

Earth Machine and New Age compost bin styles are both in stock and available for sale for $25. Please make an appointment at the Reuse & Recycling Center to purchase yours. Composting yard debris, especially your fall leaves, is a great way to create soil amendment that you can re-sue on your own property to nourish your soil.

Fall 2023

Curbside food scrap diversion is going strong!

Wonder what all those small green carts you're seeing around Arlington actually contain? Just plan old food scraps- and lots of them! Everything from fruit and veggie peels to used paper napkins and chicken bones- all can be composted back into healthy soil amendment when they are processed in a controlled and managed outdoor, static row, aerated composting environment.

We're now unpacking our fourth order of 500 green carts- so we have plenty for everyone! Sign up for food scrap drop off service and you'll either get a 5 gallon bucket delivered to your door or else you'll be sent instructions about how to pick up your small green cart.

Join the over 2,000 other Arlington residents who are already diverting the wettest 30% of their waste away from incineration and landfill!

Spring 2022 

Compost classes announced, register with Arlington Community Education

Win with Composting

Jeremy Marin
Learn how to turn household waste into a valuable, nutritious additive for your garden beds, household plants, and lawn. Composting is an ideal, low- or no-cost food for plants that also saves water by helping the soil hold onto moisture, recycling organic resources, and conserving landfill space. Demystify the process and get answers to all your compost questions, from basic to advanced. Receive a coupon for $10 off the price of a compost bin available for purchase through Arlington’s Department of Public Works. Co-sponsored by the Department of Public Works.
Tuesday, May 10 | 7:00–8:30 pm | AHS | $29

Organic Indoor Vermicomposting

Ray Pourali
Imagine a healthy indoor compost bin working year-round, one that is virtually odorless and very easy to maintain. You will be able to compost coffee, tea, some junk mail, egg containers, fruit and vegetable peels, and more. Learn all the steps to start a healthy, organic, functioning compost bin; how to harvest compost; and how to make a rich compost tea used to feed plants all year long. Your plants will love you, the trees will love you, and our planet will thank you for taking such a green initiative.
Monday, May 23 | 6:30–8:30 pm | Online | $35

March 9, 2022

Happy almost spring!
Compost bins are ready for sale, just $25 each thanks to funding support from MA Department of Environmental Protection. Make and appointment here to purchase.

November 24, 2021

Invasive plants are gaining attention in Town due to the volunteer efforts of local invasive-haters. Thanks to Adrienne Landry and Elaine Crowder, among others, for leading in this area. 

Our public spaces and trees are threatened by climbing vines and thick patches of weeds that crowd out our native plant species. These natives are important food sources for wildlife. 

Learn more about how to control invasive weeds at home, or get involved with public space projects, with these two Invasives Spotlights written by Elaine Crowder:

• Digging Out Before Winter- Knotweed!
• Colleen's Mean Mulching Machine

November 2, 2021

Happy Fall! Pumpkin recycling is happening at the elementary schools this week, check with your school to find out when and how.

Both Earth Machine and New Age compost bins are now in stock, ready to compost your backyard leaves. Sign up to purchase one at the Reuse & Recycling Center.

Composting your leaves at home saves your back, your wallet, and conserves resources. Check out this video about jumpstarting your leaf composting.

We have a few hundred food scrap diversion kits ready to give away, so sign up today for a subscription service and help reduce the weight of your trash by 25%, while creating soil-healthy nutrients we can give back to the planet.

November 2020

Pumpkin season! How can you compost these? Add them to your compost pile or offer them to a friend with a compost pile. Or, use this opportunity to sign up for curbside service if you really hate trashing your pumpkins! Please do not add them to yard waste (no food allowed in yard waste, and pumpkins are "food"), and do not place them in the FiDO bins, as FiDO is a shared resource and cannot accommodate even a few pumpkins. If the bins get full and a becomes a problem just because of an onslaught of pumpkins, that's a risk to the whole program. We have to accept that trash is trash. Or, again, use this opportunity to sign up for curbside service if you really hate trashing your pumpkins!

Next year, be on the lookout for your local elementary school pumpkin recycling day during the first few days of November.

October 2020

Backyard Compost Bins still for sale

It's that time of year again, the best time of year to start a backyard compost bin! The leaves are a gift from nature, a wonderful, free source of carbon, which should always be at least 75% of the material you are actively composting. If you want to add some vegetarian food scraps, they will decompose much faster if you keep your proportions to 25% food scraps (nitrogen) and 75% carbon (leaves). These proportions also reduce the chances that your compost will be attractive to critters.

DPW offers discounted compost bins to Arlington residents, just $25 each. Here are the styles we have available:

New Age

Earth Machine

To purchase your compost bin, please contact recycling coordinator Charlotte Milan at cmilan@town.arlington.ma.us, let her know which style you want, and she will make an appointment for you to come pick it up outside of the DPW Customer Service entrance.

Happy Raking!

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