Following Governor Whitmer’s signing into law of an 8-bill package overhauling the state’s solid waste law, recycling is the name of the game in Michigan. The goal of the new legislation is to boost recycling and composting rates to 30% by 2025 and to 45% by 2030. Here at Meadows Crossing we want to do our part by increasing our residents’ participation in composting their food waste, and we will be teaching them how.
Michigan’s Future Is Recycling
Michigan’s new materials management laws take effect on March 29, 2023. This means that every county in Michigan will be responsible for making a plan to improve their recycling and composting rates. This will lower the amount of waste sent to landfills and also support companies that depend on recyclable materials. Renew Michigan EGLE is already making grants to companies and organizations that aim to improve or expand recycling or utilize recycled materials.
At Meadows Crossing we are coordinating with GVSU’s Office of Sustainability to introduce and teach site-wide composting here in our community. We want our environmental footprint to be lighter too.
Composting at Meadows Crossing
If you are unfamiliar with the practice of composting, you’re not alone. Composting is essentially recycling of organic materials like leaves, grass clippings, and kitchen scraps by setting these items aside and allowing them to decompose. The composted material can then be used to improve the structure of agricultural soil or added to plants as fertilizer to help them grow.
Right now almost all of this helpful material is going to landfills where it will never decompose and goes completely to waste. According to the EPA, approximately 24 percent of the U.S. waste stream is organic material that can be converted into compost.
What can be composted? A wide variety of things! GVSU’s Sustainable Agriculture Project Farm composts food waste as well as the paper waste and utensils that are used at Campus Dining locations.
Here at Meadows Crossing we will be concentrating on teaching our residents how to compost their food waste. Recently Glenn Turek, the owner of Meadows Crossing, began his own composting journey by purchasing an OXO Easy Clean Compost Bin and was surprised by how simple it was to use and how good it felt to remove that waste from the trash stream. Small and neat looking, this composter is designed for countertop use. The lid keeps odor from escaping, and it’s simple to clean. The biodegradable composting bags make composting a snap.
It’s our ultimate goal to provide our residents with composters so they can join us in going green with our food waste. We will be talking about recycling and composting in upcoming months as we coordinate with GVSU and implement our ideas. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us. And if you’d like to purchase a composter yourself and join us in reducing food waste, we would be delighted.
