When you move into a house in Boise, you get three waste bins: one for trash, one for recycling, and one for composting. But when you move into an apartment, you’re only guaranteed a dumpster for trash. Recycling is at the landlord’s whim, and until recently, composting was a pipe dream — making it cumbersome for apartment renters and condo owners (about a fifth of the city’s households) to reduce their waste with compost and contribute to the city’s composting-related climate goals.
New Food Scrap Drop-Off Program
In September, the city’s Curb It waste program announced it was starting a compost pilot program for Boiseans in apartments and other multi-family communities who aren’t eligible for curbside service.
It’s not quite as simple as emptying your food scraps or leaves into the bin outside your house, though. During the pilot program, the city is operating one drop-off location at Comba Park near the intersection of Five Mile and Ustick Roads, and another at the Fort Boise Park Complex in east downtown.
The program is currently collecting roughly 150 pounds of scraps per week from 70 households around the city, according to Melissa Stoner with the city's public works department. Stoner said residents have been excited and grateful for the program, and encouraged Boiseans to spread the word.
How It Differs From Curbside
Lisa Knapp, materials management environmental analyst for the city, told City Cast Boise back in May that the majority of material composted with the curbside program comes from yard and garden waste, like weeds, leaves, and dead vegetable plants.
The drop off program, however, exclusively accepts food scraps and doesn’t accept waste from yards or gardens.
The single-family home compost program began in 2017 and does mean one additional bin to wheel around, but the city has seen a 97% use rate according to Knapp. That’s partially because it actually costs more to opt out of recycling and composting services.
