Composting Ordinance

My family has been composting for several years now in order to reduce the amount of garbage we generate, which in turn helps to reduce our footprint, as well as our waste removal bill. Many cities across the nation encourage their residents to dispose of food waste and compostable paper products in compost bins instead of tossing them in the trash. Seattle has now passed an ordinance that will take that one step further by placing a $1 fine on garbage bills of people who put too many table scraps in the trash. Under this new rule trash collectors can take a cursory look each time they dump trash into a garbage truck, and if they see that an individual’s trash contains 10% or more of compostable material they’ll leave a ticket on the garbage bin that says to expect that $1 fine on their next garbage bill. While it may sound good in theory, it also sounds like an easy way to raise revenue. Plus, Seattle residents better hope they don’t tick off their trash collector who now will wield fining power.