Orange peels, tea leaves, bigs of eggshell — humble food scraps form the foundation of a new city pilot program that diverts food waste from the Durham landfill and converts it into garden-ready compost.
The pilot program, which offers curbside food waste collection in the Walltown neighborhood, is expanding soon to another 500 local households. Along the way, the city hopes to learn more about what motivates folks to keep food waste out of the dump.
Our reporter Sevana Wenn visited some of the program’s early adopters to find out why they save avocado skins and wilted lettuce, and what they think of the city’s new venture into the world of composting.
Above: Hafeez Dalla and Carina Barnett-Loro joined a pilot program that collects food waste from Durham households. Photo by Maddie Wray — The 9th Street Journal