News

Village residents will soon be able to participate in a free municipal composting program, made possible through a grant from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and a contract with a local horse farm, Ellerslie Stables. The Village Board is excited to be able to offer this climate-friendly solution to our community!

How the Program Works

Step 1: Register

You must be a resident of the Village of Rhinebeck to participate. Village residents must register through this form. The Village will use your contact information to get in touch about the program's launch and then with occasional tips and news. Only one person per household is required to fill out this form. If you want multiple household members to receive emails, please fill out a form for each. Tracking the number of participants also gives us a way to gauge success.

After you fill out the registration form, we will be in touch with information on how to participate and get a free lidded bucket if you’d like one. If you're new to composting, welcome and don't worry! We have FAQs below and other opportunities for you to learn. We're confident you'll find it pretty easy!

Step 2: Gather your food waste

Participants will scrape your food scraps into a lidded bucket at your house. (We can provide one if you need one.) We recommend you line your bucket with a piece of newspaper or a brown paper bag.

The farm’s composting process can accept all manner of food waste. Fresh or moldy, cooked or raw, healthy or junk food—all good! Bones, meat, fish, dairy, eggshells, and coffee grounds—all good!

These items are not accepted:

  • No dog poo or other pet waste 

  • No houseplants

  • No bulk grease or cooking oil 

  • No "compostable" bio-plastics, take out containers or cutlery (unfortunately, these won't break down in the composting process at the farm.)

  • No produce stickers or twist ties (Tip: remove these as you’re putting away your groceries.)

The ONLY acceptable non-food that you may dump in with your food scraps: paper tea bags and paper coffee filters; paper bucket liners, such as brown paper bags or newspapers. We recommend using a paper liner (such as newspaper or a brown paper bag) and rinsing out your bucket frequently or cleaning it into the dishwasher.

Please, no "bio-plastic compostable" bags!

Step 3: Drop-off your food waste

This is a “drop-off” program, meaning participants are responsible for bringing their food scraps to a central collection spot. (We are not able to offer curbside pickup.) The collection method is a locked dumpster with a layer of shavings as a bed for the food scraps. It will be located in the main Village municipal parking lot, in the back by the Farmers’ Market shed. Drop-off will be self-serve: participants will be free to dump their food scraps into the dumpster at any time. Participants will receive a code to be able to unlock the dumpster. The program is year-round.

Ellerslie Stables, the Village’s subcontractor, will pick up the dumpster on Monday mornings, incorporate the waste into the farm’s horse manure compost process, and return a fresh dumpster to the municipal parking lot that same day.

Any dumping of trash is strictly prohibited because it ruins the whole load! Any participant caught dumping trash will be liable for contamination damages.

Climate Goals & Co-benefits

Food waste, when sequestered in landfills, creates methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Conversely, when food scraps are mixed with materials such as wood shavings, leaves, or mulch and aerated with oxygen such that microbes can digest the waste, a different natural process occurs. Carbon is sequestered, and fresh, nutrient rich soil called compost is created. Composting turns waste into a resource!

You will have less trash (and less stinky trash) if you participate in composting. The average American’s household trash is about 30% compostable. You may be able to save money by reducing your hauling service or number of trips to the Transfer Station.

In the spring, participants will be welcomed to take a share of the finished compost for their gardens or houseplants.

FAQs

Don’t see your question answered here?
Please email: trusteebertozzi@villageofrhinebeckny.gov

  • If you're a Village resident who already composts at home or through some other method, and you prefer to continue with that—you're awesome!

  • For the 100 household pilot, we calculated that we were diverting about 2 tons of food scraps per month and reducing our CO2e by almost 4 tons per month. That’s equivalent to taking 10 cars off the road! This is according to the StopWaste Interactive Greenhouse Gas Calculator:

    https://www.stopwaste.org/at-work/reduce-and-reuse/recycling-business-waste/recycling-climate-protection/greenhouse-gas

  • Our composting contacts (The O Zone and UCRRA) have told us that it simply takes too long for these new disposable products to break down. This creates real problems in their operation, so the farm we're working with also asks us to refrain.

  • Sure, we encourage neighbors to help each other drop off food waste.

  • The drop-off location is centrally located in the main municipal parking lot beside the Farmers' Market shed.

  • It is important for you to tightly shut and lock the collection dumpster after you dump your bucket of scraps. The farm cleans the collection dumpster during the weekly pickup. Each week the farmer puts shavings as a base that the food waste gets dumped onto, soaking up juices.

    During the pilot, we received zero complaints about odor.

  • We provide participants with a small lidded bucket, specifically designed for food scrap collection. Or if you have a bucket you prefer to use, that’s fine.

    We do suggest that you line your bucket with a piece of newspaper or a brown paper bag. This reduces goop and makes it easier to dump out your food waste and quicker to clean.

    You will be responsible for cleaning your own bucket.

  • It’s true, the Village runs a curbside yard waste program for leaves and brush, which we then recycle into mulch. However, we do not offer this service year round, and there are certain other logistical challenges to offering curbside food waste pickup. It’s something we’ll continue to think about.

  • We will provide training for our participants, so you’ll know what you can include and what not.

    As for contamination from the general public, we plan to secure the collection dumpster with a lock that prevents the general public from wandering over and dumping in their trash. We may install a surveillance camera to ensure compliance.

  • The collection dumpster will be closed and locked.

  • Whether that drop spot continues is at the discretion of the HOA. Hopefully it does, as that is the most convenient option for Woods residents! The Woods condos are located within the Village, so you're welcome to register and drop off at the Village's drop spot, if you prefer that for whatever reason.

If you already backyard compost and want to stick with that, you’re awesome!

In our research, we heard from some residents, "Well, I’ve already been composting for 30 years…"

We believe there is value in gathering data about who is already composting for grants and other reports, as well as to create a space for seasoned and new composters to collaborate. Get in touch and let us know what you’re up to!

Business Participants

Huge congratulations to our locally owned businesses who are stepping up as leaders!

Commercial Contracts

Businesses in the Village typically need curbside pickup which is not part of the municipal program. But a local service called The O Zone provides a commercial solution. Volume of food scraps vary, business to business. Village businesses are encouraged to contact The O Zone for help estimating the number of bins to fit their needs. You can also discuss logistics of bin placement and weekly curbside pickup. Check with The O Zone for their current commercial rates.

Background

It’s been a long and winding road getting this program off the ground (errr into the ground?). Check out this webpage for the history of how our dedicated volunteers on the Climate Smart Task Force made it happen.

Please explore educational information about food waste as an issue. The Task Force has done some very interesting research!