Food Scraps

Update on Bethlehem's Food Scraps Composting Project:

Resources to support backyard composting.
50% off Earth Machine Backyard Composters and FREE Shipping! Residents need to pre-order online by April 7, 2018 and pick up at our Spring Recycle Fest event on April 14, 2018! Open to all Capital Region residents. Please NOTE: Compost units must be pre-ordered online, they may not be purchased at the Recycle Fest.
$240K NYS DEC grant received for food scraps composting equipment purchase and paving.
Please click here details.
Test composting limited quantities of food scraps at our facility.
Successfully completed in 2017. Please click here for the results.
Community "drop spots" for residents’ food scraps, to be brought to Town facility
Under consideration as a possibility. Please complete the survey to have your opinion heard.

Backyard Composting resources:

Comprehensive Home Composting Guide by Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE).
Compost Bins: There are a number of types of compost units you can purchase; try a web search for “compost bins” to get started. We recommend the Earth Machine as one unit that works well.

Make your own: You can also make them simply and inexpensively with a ring of wire fence (here are instructions, or a short video shows how), or a plastic trash can (short video shows how), or old pallets (short video shows how)
Questions? Contact the Town Recycling Coordinator for more info. Email: recycle@townofbethlehem.org or phone: 518-439-4955 ext. 1510

‘Vermicomposting’ or ‘Vermiculture’ Resources
(Vermicomposting is indoor composting with special ‘Red Wiggler’ composting worms)

Why compost?

Composting is the most ecological and environmentally efficient way of handling food scraps.
The town has a high rate of participation in recycling and our yard waste collection and composting program. But the majority of food scraps is currently being thrown away.
Diverting food scraps from the landfill is well aligned with the town’s Sustainable Bethlehem program, and will allow us to get closer to the town and state’s long-term ‘zero waste’ goals.
Food scraps makes up 20 percent of landfill waste in the US, and greenhouse gas emissions are 23 times more harmful than if the waste is composted, according to EPA estimates.
Compost enriches the soil, holds soil moisture, helps prevent erosion, suppresses weed growth, reduces the need for chemical fertilizers, and offers a variety of other benefits.

Bethlehem Food Waste Composting in the News: