To the Editor:

When the county tapped Princeton to pilot curbside collection of organics back in 2011, I was skeptical, despite being a strong supporter of environmental initiatives in town. It seemed inefficient — the heavy truck chasing down green carts scattered around town, the hour-long drive to distant composting centers struggling to stay open, the considerable staff time spent promoting and coordinating.

I was less than impressed because I knew there was a better way, having lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan. There, yardwaste is collected in rollcarts with double or triple the capacity of the small green rollcarts used for Princeton’s organics. The large rollcarts accommodate not only leaves, sticks, and clippings from the garden, but also any foodscraps residents wish to toss in. It’s all collected once a week, and the foodscraps are so diluted that they are barely noticeable in the windrows of composting yardwaste just outside the city.

Three years ago, I worked with Princeton staff, a council member, and a representative of the Princeton Environmental Commission to develop a pilot collection in town that would emulate the Ann Arbor approach. At first, only yardwaste would be collected, but the rollcarts would make it possible to later add in foodscraps as well. The collection would require only an inexpensive “tipper hook” retrofit of a truck in order to piggyback on Princeton’s existing collection of yardwaste bags. Throughout the planning process, I had to counter misinformation being generated about the cost and practicality of such an approach. In a stunning setback, the carefully crafted proposal was rejected by the public works committee, in part because some in town government saw it as a threat to or distraction from Princeton’s heavy investment in the curbside organics program.

Now that organics collection has been suspended, it’s time to revive the proposal we put together three years ago, and not only because of its potential for solving the foodwaste collection problem. Princeton’s streets are littered year-round with small piles of yardwaste that hinder parking and obstruct bicyclists. The 64-96 gallon rollcarts used in Ann Arbor and elsewhere provide a means to containerize this mess and keep streets free of debris most of the year.

This time around, I’d suggest that a pilot program serve interested residents who live on busy streets, where loose yardwaste on the pavement is particularly dangerous. With minimal expense, the rollcarts will augment existing use of yardwaste bags, and many residents will find the rollcarts much easier to fill and move around than the single-use bags. If successful, the large rollcarts would be made available town-wide.

For those losing curbside organics service, it will be hard to go back to mixing trash and food scraps. The greenest approach of all for vegetable scraps is backyard composting. Google “wishing the earth well” for a fun, critter-proof composter design I’ve been demonstrating in my front yard on Harrison Street.

But curbside collection has its appeal. Princeton’s setback offers an opportunity to expand our thinking, emulate other’s success, and solve multiple problems.

Stephen K. Hiltner
North Harrison Street