Food Waste and Compostables

In Seattle, there are many sustainable initiatives within the City. The one that caught my eye the most was that of composting and the correct disposal of food waste. This is all in the efforts of the City of Seattle to divert about 60% of their waste from landfills. In most public spaces, restaurants, and food courts are waste disposal units with trash, recycling, and composting. Something not too familiar for us residents in Southern California. Talking to most business owners, they do not see the required separation of waste as an inconvenience. Instead, the few business owners that I spoke to were surprised that Southern Californians did not require such a mandate and separation.

Walking through the urban and suburban areas of the Seattle area, there are obvious bins solely meant for composting and food waste. Single family residences in the suburban areas even have a small green bin placed outside with their trash and recycling bins meant for residential uses to take part in composting.

Something I really admire about the composting and food waste bins in the City of Seattle is that they have mandated in their own city, inspiring nearby adjacent cities to also implement such a system. The bins also serve as an informative tool for the public and show clear pictures of what goes where. The City uses a composting system called anaerobic digestion which is able to take on the high amount of food waste including biodegradable materials, food soiled utensils, and of course food scraps.