Amend Council Bill No. B 282-19 to Allow Residential Food Scrap Collection

The Columbia City Council is voting on a bill to allow 3rd parties to haul food scraps for the purpose of compost generation. Unfortunately the language of the bill limits this to commercial sources of food scraps. Being that commercial food scraps account for only half of all food scraps produced in Columbia, and that the city already offers the service of commercial food scrap collection, this is a non-solution to a pressing issue.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the world is burning through topsoil far faster than it can be replenished. The UNFAO has estimated that at the current rate of degradation the world will run out of topsoil in as little as 60 years. Without topsoil the environment is severely lessened in it's ability to filter water, store carbon, and sustain plant life - this includes valuable crops used to feed people.

One of the best ways to restore our soils is by adding organic matter, like compost. One of the most useful ingredients for generating compost is food scraps. There is currently no option for Columbia residents to compost food scraps other than doing it in their own backyard, but for many people there are many barriers to home composting, including lack of home ownership, knowledge, and time.