![From scraps to soil: Breaking down Connecticut’s composting trend](https://lakevillejournal.com/media-library/new-hartford-resident-liza-bocchichio-brought-the-household-food-scraps-from-her-family-of-four-to-recycle-at-the-regional-trans.jpg?id=51966655&width=1200&height=900)
New Hartford resident Liza Bocchichio brought the household food scraps from her family of four to recycle at the Regional Transfer Station for Barkhamsted, Winchester, and New Hartford.
Jennifer Almquist
New Hartford resident Liza Bocchichio brought the household food scraps from her family of four to recycle at the Regional Transfer Station for Barkhamsted, Winchester, and New Hartford.
Efforts are underway throughout Connecticut to increase community composting and reduce food waste.
For years, most towns in Connecticut have been concerned with the waste stream, yet despite some support from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), and Governor Ned Lamont, the state legislature continues to deny applications for funding. DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said, “We need to reduce waste overall, and reducing food waste by learning how to better manage food in our homes.”
According to Project Drawdown, a leading global resource for climate solutions, “the reversal of global warming is both environmentally and economically achievable by mid-century if we act now and scale up already practical climate solutions like composting.” In its list of the most effective solutions to “draw down” or reverse the build-up of carbon in the atmosphere, reducing food waste ranks within the top three solutions. Composting organic waste, versus landfilling it, can reduce more than 50% of carbon dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions for a total of 2.1 gigatons between now and 2050.
Pilot programs for food-waste collection and composting are helping towns make some headway. Todd Arcelaschi, the mayor of Winchester, is also the administrator of the Regional Refuse Disposal District No. 1. On a recent blustery day, he gave a tour of the food scrap recycling pilot program that began Jan. 15, 2024.
Located at the Transfer Station that serves Barkhamsted, New Hartford, and Winchester, the program is free to all town residents with transfer station passes. New Hartford resident, Liza Bocchichio, emptied the kitchen scraps produced by her family of four into the blue and yellow bins and said they are very happy with the program. Residents separate their food scraps from normal waste, place them in compostable bags, and deposit them in special bins provided by a Hartford firm, Blue Earth, which then hauls them to Quantum Biopower, a DEEP approved anaerobic digester in Southington. In 21 days, Quantum converts food scraps into compost, and turns the methane by-product inside the facility into biogas that generates electricity for Southington.
Their weekly pickup from the Barkhamsted site was over 1,200 pounds of waste that was not going to the landfill. Arcelaschi said, “Compost improves soil quality, reduces the need for chemical fertilizers, retains water in our soil, and reduces soil erosion. The CT DEEP states that 22% of the waste stream is food.”
Jennifer Heaton-Jones, Executive Director of the Housatonic Resource Recovery Authority (HRRA) in Brookfield, created the first Connecticut curbside pick-up food waste program in Bridgewater in 2014. HRRA now has nine drop-off locations with the goal of having programs in all 14 member towns. She said that perseverance and patience are the most important ingredients for success.
Heaton-Jones applied for and received USDA grants for her latest efforts, which include Connecticut’s first municipal solar-powered Aerated Static Pile (ASP) composting site located in Ridgefield. The solar array powers a pump that aerates the pile of food waste and shredded leaves. She stated, “the goal of this project is to create a self-sustaining closed loop composting system for transforming residential food waste into an end-product for community and agricultural use. This innovative project demonstrates that municipalities can manage food waste locally, reduce the carbon footprint of offsite disposal and contribute to the waste diversion goals of the state.”
Since its launch in 2022, the Ridgefield ASP facility has turned 43,000 pounds of food into 60 cubic yards of compost. In Newtown, where 1,220 people participate, the pilot program reduced 184 tons of solid waste in the first 21 weeks. HRRA is in the process of building a second ASP facility that should be up and running in September.
Brian D. Bartram , Manager Salisbury/Sharon Transfer Station in Lakeville and Barbara Bettigole, Chair of Transfer Station Recycling Advisory Committee. Jennifer Almquist
Brian D. Bartram is the manager of the Salisbury/Sharon Transfer Station. Along with Barbara Bettigole, Chair of the Salisbury/Sharon Transfer Station Recycling Advisory Committee, they are the driving force behind the successful Salisbury/Sharon Food Waste Collection program. Bettigole has long been an advocate for composting, especially bringing programs into schools for children to learn about composting and food waste.
According to Bettigole, getting the word out to the public, encouraging participation is key. They have created numerous information “sandwich” boards that are placed at community gathering spots. She believes “most people are curious and want to the right thing.”
Bartram manages the $5 million state-of-the-art facility where residents with transfer passes receive a countertop compost bin and a 6-gallon storage/transportation bin. Accepted items include fruit and vegetables, produce and deli items, meat and poultry (including bones), fish and shellfish (Including shells), dairy, bread and pasta, rice and grains, eggshells, nuts and seeds, leftovers, coffee grounds, cut flowers, corks, tea bags, paper towels and napkins. There is a high green metal fence surrounding the facility and, as a result, Bartram said, “we have only had one bear!” Clients must provide their own compostable bags. Lakeville resident Jen Hazard dropped her very neat, approved bag in the provided bin and expressed enthusiasm for the program.
The Salisbury/Sharon pilot program, started in 2021, now serves 400 households. Between 2021 and 2022, it diverted 18.5 tons of food scraps.
Bettigole and Bartram believe Connecticut needs a regional recycling coordinator like Massachusetts has. With the limited number of local facilities, limited route density, and transportation distances, the costs remain high. Without funding approval from the Connecticut legislature, area towns are left to their own devices seeking a combination of grants, tax dollars, and outside fundraising. Bartram just notified the community that as of Jan. 1, 2025, all organizations that generate 26 or more tons of food scraps, such as schools, restaurants, supermarkets, resorts, and hospitals, will be required by CT Public Act 23-170 to separate and recycle all food scraps at an authorized organic material composting facility.
Other Northwest Corner towns have taken different approaches to achieve composting programs. The Lakeville Journal polled municipal leaders for comment.
Kent First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer responded, “Currently Kent has a composting agreement with the Housatonic Resource Recovery Authority to collect our organic food waste and bring it to a composting site in New Milford. Kent does not have the capacity to develop a composting capability, due in part to the small amount of compost material the Town collects because this year we are conducting a pilot program for collecting food waste, so it is voluntary and not mandatory.”
Jay Hubelbank, Selectman from Washington answered, “At this time we are collecting food waste from residents at our Transfer Station. We have the food waste picked up and delivered to a company in New Milford who composts it. We pay for the transportation and the weight of the load. Last year we collected 7.5 tons”
Greg LaCava, First Selectman in Warren stated, “Warren has had a composting program in effect for 3 years now, instituted when I took office. Warren doesn’t have a transfer station, therefore we allocated bins for residents to utilize. Bins have been strategically located at Town Hall and are bear proof. Residents can access these bins 24/7. We sought no federal funding — completely instituted and managed locally.”
LaCava stated the yearly environmental impact of the program resulted in 3,111 pounds of CO2 saved, and 3,547 miles of driving avoided.
Abstract art display in Wassaic for Upstate Art Weekend, July 18-21.
WASSAIC — Art enthusiasts from all over the country flocked to the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley to participate in Upstate Art Weekend, which ran from July 18 to July 21.
The event, which “celebrates the cultural vibrancy of Upstate New York”, included 145 different locations where visitors could enjoy and interact with art.
On Saturday, July 20, The Wassaic Project hosted numerous community events. Will Hutnick, the director of artistic programming, said “We’ve been a part of it since the beginning, this is the fifth year of UPAW.”
Most of the action was based at Maxon Mills, the seven-floor grain mill located in the heart of Wassaic. On exhibit was work from 30 artists, 18 of whom were past residents of The Wassaic Project. “Artists can come and do a residency here, meaning they live and work with one another for a couple months at a time,” Hutnick stated.
The first floor held work by Petra Szilagyi, who uses dirt and linseed oil to construct images of paranormal concepts, most of which include bats. They reflected that a recent trip to a fifth sense competition in Vietnam was the influence behind the exhibit.
Across the floor was Tiffany Smith’s interactive installation which incorporated plants and wicker chairs, all of which were objects associated with her Carribean upbringing. “The room being filled with plants is symbolic of hurricane prep which often included bringing the plants from outside into the house,” Smith said.
As visitors made their way up the narrow wooden stairs, music could be heard from behind the walls. The echoing music was Daniel Shieh’s installation, entitled Mother’s Anthem, which played a recording of the American Anthem in 30 languages. The languages ranged from Spanish and Italian to Navajo and Bengali.
Each floor was filled with artwork of all mediums, including painting, fibers, collage and photography. Rachel Bussières, who switched her concentration after watching the 2017 solar eclipse, uses varying light sources to produce lumen prints. During the wildfires, she recounted that she “made a new exposure each day to capture the changing air quality”.
Luciana Abait also incorporates the natural world into her pieces, instead using maps. An environmental activist originally from Argentina, Abait’s work highlights “environmental fragility, specifically the impacts it has on immigrants.” Her installation that is currently on display at Maxon Mills, takes the form of a mountain range built solely from maps of the US and Argentina.
Throughout the day, visitors could “Arm Wrestle 4 A Popsicle”. Winners had the choice of 3 playfully flavored trout-inspired popsicles - Nightcrawler, Power Bait, and Salmon Roe. Artist Katie Peck, who spent the day in costume as a rainbow trout, encouraged guests to step up and try their hand at an arm wrestle.
Shibori Indigo dyeing, group meditation, and dance workshops were open for community members of all ages as well.
While the daytime activities fostered appreciation of fixed art, a dance party until midnight at The Lantern Inn offered guests a space for performative art.
When describing the environment of The Wassaic Project, Smith emphasized, “It’s all community, it’s all love.”
A serene scene from the Amenia garden tour.
AMENIA — The much-anticipated annual Amenia Garden Tour drew a steady stream of visitors to admire five local gardens on Saturday, July 13, each one demonstrative of what a green thumb can do. An added advantage was the sense of community as neighbors and friends met along the way.
Each garden selected for the tour presented a different garden vibe. Phantom’s Rock, the garden of Wendy Goidel, offered a rocky terrain and a deep rock pool offering peaceful seclusion and anytime swims. Goidel graciously welcomed visitors and answered questions about the breathtaking setting.
Amenia Finance Director Charlie Miller welcomed visitors to his Bog Hollow Road garden in Wassaic, a manicured expansive yard with well-placed garden beds framing a far-reaching view. He said he plans carefully each winter for the next spring’s improvement.
The organic, environmentally responsible Maitri Farm was next, a lesson in coordinating agriculture with natural balance. The farm stand and a walk among the greenhouses brought visitors together.
Near the center of Amenia was the garden of Polly Pitts-Garvin, offering a chance to visit a robust vegetable garden with raised beds to be envious of and a remarkable absence of any insects or usual vegetable garden problems.
At Chez Cheese, the vast garden acreage surrounding the 1850s historic home of Joan Feeney and Bruce Phillips in Millerton, visitors could begin at refreshment stations where walking tour maps of the 15-acre property were available. There were streams and ponds with docks, and a dozen bridges arranged around the landscape. In the 19th-century, the property had been the home of the Wilson Cheese Factory, inspiring the name of the estate.
The Amenia Garden Tour was supported this year by Paley’s Garden Center in Sharon.
Gary Dodson working a tricky pool on the Schoharie Creek, hoping to lure something other than a rock bass from the depths.
PRATTSVILLE, N.Y. — The Schoharie Creek, a fabled Catskill trout stream, has suffered mightily in recent decades.
Between pressure from human development around the busy and popular Hunter Mountain ski area, serious flooding, and the fact that the stream’s east-west configuration means it gets the maximum amount of sunlight, the cool water required for trout habitat is simply not as available as in the old days.
This is not a new phenomenon. It does seem to be getting worse, though.
Gary Dodson and I convened where the creek makes its final run into the Schoharie reservoir, part of the New York City water supply system, on a semi-broiling Thursday afternoon, July 11.
The goal was simple. Catch smallmouth bass, which abound in the lower section of the river.
This was hot stuff — as in an 80-degree water temperature.
The air temperature was actually slightly less at 77.
After negotiating the intensely slippery rocks, festooned with treacherous algae, the first major pool presented several difficulties, with a back eddy competing with a main flow and several large trees draped about the whole thing.
I hit on the simplest strategy, which was to flip a weighted attractor fly called a Tequilley into the start of the eddy so it would proceed slowly but steadily into the maelstrom, sinking all the while.
This worked. A proper adult smallmouth, with bronze coloring and vertical stripes, took the thing.
The point-and-shoot camera finally died, however, and I was not going to try to fumble my phone out for a nice but routine fish photo.
Why not?
Because I guarantee the fish would have made a sudden, last-moment bolt for freedom, causing me to drop the device into the drink.
Gary moved downstream while I continued trying to annoy the residents of the pool, succeeding a couple of times with different colored Wooly Buggers.
Then we all got bored and I moved off, where Gary was catching rock bass and cussing them out for not being something else.
I have to admit, they are not the most compelling critters. Something about the red eyes.
This latest trip was dominated by extremely tedious and distasteful Harry Homeowner activities, but on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings I prowled Woodland Valley Creek. By “morning” I mean “dawn,” because that was when the water temps were down to a barely acceptable 64.
I made the acquaintance of several stocked browns and of a handful of their wild cousins. The wild fish are smaller and nimbler.
The successful ploy was an Adams wet fly, size 16, drifted behind something big, like a Parachute Adams or Stimulator.