Legislation will
take tons of food waste out of landfills for reuse as compost, farm feed or
green energy
Left to right: Sen. Sue Sosnowski, Rep. Donna Walsh and Sen. Cathie Cool Rumsey. They not only have overlapping interest in protecting the environment, but also overlapping districts |
By
Will Collette
Last Friday, on
a bright and beautiful afternoon, Governor Lincoln Chafee came to Charlestown’s
Earth Care Farm, site of Rhode
Island’s only large-scale composting business, for the ceremonial signing of a
new law that will require large Rhode Island institutions to stop sending food
waste to landfills,
This practice contributes to global warming, since when organic wastes decompose in the anaerobic environment of a landfill, they produce methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
This practice contributes to global warming, since when organic wastes decompose in the anaerobic environment of a landfill, they produce methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
The
Governor handed ceremonial pens and framed versions of the bill to House
sponsor Rep. Donna Walsh, Senate sponsor Cathie Cool Rumsey, and Sen. Sue Sosnowski,
who chairs the Senate Environment and Agriculture Committee.
About
25% of all the waste that goes into Rhode Island’s Central Landfill is wasted
food. Earth Care Farm’s owner Mike Merner pointed out that only 1% of food
waste gets composted.
Rep.
Walsh and Senators Cool Rumsey and Sosnowski all stressed that diverting that
food waste will save state and local governments money and open the way for new
green businesses and green jobs, but Merner also noted the much broader point
that “soil is the foundation of our health.”
For
over a generation, Merner has been a visionary for that principle – by closing
the cycle, we enrich our soil, improve the quality and quantity of foods we
grow and eat, enhance our health and clean our environment.
Earth
Care is also partnered up with the Compost Plant (featured here). The Compost Plant has signed
up several institutions already, such as Roger Williams University, for the
pick-up of food waste that is brought to Earth Care Farm for composting.
Rep.
Walsh’s website gives this
description of what the new law will do:
The legislation (2014-H 7033Aaa,2014-S 2315Aaa) will require the institutions it affects, beginning Jan. 1, 2016, to separate organic waste including food scraps, food processing residue and soiled, nonrecyclable paper from their trash and either compost it, arrange to have it used agriculturally, such as for animal feed—feeding it to pigs quite literally turns garbage back into food—or have it processed by a composting or anaerobic digesting facility.
The
expectation is that as institutions sign on, there will be more business
activity, such as at least one anaerobic digester that converts food waste into
biofuel with a compost byproduct, though that compost is far from being as good
as Earth Care Farm’s since Merner has been extremely scrupulous about making
sure that material coming in for composting is uncontaminated.
Of
course, Earth Care Farm should see a sharp up-tick in their business as well.
Also
present at the ceremony was Charlestown Town Council President Tom Gentz,
who was invited by the Governor as a courtesy.
He
mumbled through a prepared statement that showed he had no idea what
was in the bill. Gentz did note, apropos of nothing, that he knew Charlestown
had a lot of farms. Good to know.
Gentz and the CCA Party-controlled Town Council did not
adopt a resolution to support this legislation.
Gentz reading his prepared nonsequitors in front of big piles of fertilizer |
But maybe it’s not so odd given that Democrats - Donna Walsh and Cathie Cool Rumsey - were the bill's sponsors.
But
perhaps more to the point, neither the CCA Party in general nor Gentz in
particular seem to care very much about the environment, other than playing
the NIMBY when one of their favored groups are affected.
Even then, as we see in the on-going Copar mess, they won’t take truly effective action.
Even then, as we see in the on-going Copar mess, they won’t take truly effective action.
The
CCA Council members have never cared all that much about recycling and blew off
ex-Town Administrator Bill DiLibero when he tried to draw their attention to
Charlestown’s poor recycling record. Watch this Clerkbase
clip for a prime example of what I mean.
But
here’s an example that really shows the kind of environmentalists we’re dealing with.
Go to the minutes for the Charlestown Town Council meeting for February 14,
2011. The Council received a request from the town of Jamestown to sign on to a resolution supporting “Extended Producer Responsibility.”
Rep.
Donna Walsh has been working tirelessly on this for the past eight years, to
make it easier for consumers to deal with products that should not be put in
landfills (paint, electronics, batteries, plastics, tires, etc.) by holding the
makers at least partially responsible.
The
Town Council voted by three to two to sign on to Jamestown’s resolution.
Councilors Tom Gentz and Lisa DiBello voted NO.
According
to the official minutes of the meeting:
Motion made by Mrs. Frank and seconded by Mr. Avedisian to support the resolution. Mr. Gentz stated that the resolution is onerous and that he would not support it. Mr. Gentz asked for a roll call vote. ROLL CALL: Mr. Avedisian-Yes; Ms. DiBello-No; Mrs. Frank-Yes; Mr. Slattery-Yes; Mr. Gentz-No. The motion passed.
Click
here to see the video. “Onerous?” Really?
With his record on the environment, and
especially on recycling, Gentz had some gall showing up at the bill signing at
Earth Care Farm. But maybe he was just there to enforce Charlestown’s
new border control policy.