Memo

Audience Profile

 

 

Audience and Purpose

Primary Audience: Bobby Lindamood, Jr., Mayor of Colleyville, TX

Secondary Audience: Dave Guyer, Community Waste Disposal Supervisor

Relationship with Audience: Resident of Colleyville

Purpose of Document: To propose a small and voluntary pilot program for composting in the city of Colleyville that could gauge interest and engagement

Intended Use of Document: Persuade audience to approve a 100-member pilot program

Technical Background: None required

Prior Knowledge: May not know benefits or processes of composting

Information Needs: Understand what is asked of participants and the city in managing the pilot program

Cultural Considerations: USA, small-population, suburban city

Probable Questions: What is composting and why is it valuable? What is being required of us and the participants? Why should we gauge interest in composting as a way to spend current, and possibly future, city resources?

 

Audience’s Probable Attitude and Personality

Attitude Towards Topic: Ambivalent and likely skeptical

Probable Objections: Initial time and monetary costs might outweigh any benefits. Might feel it would be too costly to expand, and if that is the future goal, might be prejudiced against it from the beginning. Perhaps resistant to being perceived as environmentally-concerned.

Probable Attitude Toward Writer: Open

Organizational Climate: Technical

Persons Most Affected by This Document: Initially, volunteers; if program succeeds, possibly many more future residents

Temperament: Neutral

Probable Reaction to Document: Interest should be piqued. Reader should be reassured of voluntary participation and low cost.

 

Audience Expectation About the Document

Reason Document Originated: My own idea

Material Important to Audience: Ease of doing, low cost to city, low-risk politically

Potential Problems: Reader may require more justification, depending on the extent of changes proposed

Length and Detail: Concise but meaningful information

Tone: Business

Due Date: April 24, 2023

 

 

Proposal to employ a small, voluntary pilot program to gauge interest and engagement in composting in the city of Colleyville

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prepared for

Bobby Lindamood, Jr.

Mayor, city of Colleyville

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By:

Joshua Huff

 

 

 

 

The Letter of Transmittal will go on this page.

 

The Table of Contents will go on this page.

 

Introduction

 

In U.S. households, around 30-40% of food purchased is wasted. This translates to about 330 million pounds of food wasted across the USA every day. When we look at individuals, the average American throws away a pound of food every day that could be composted and reused (Million Dollar Vegan, Inc., 2022). Approximately 30% of landfill waste could be composted ( https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/departments/code-compliance/solidwaste/food-scrap-compost).

 

DFW has an ambitious goal to achieve zero waste over the next few decades, which is defined as a 90% diversion of waste from incinerators and landfills. North Central Texas landfills have a remaining capacity of only 35 years (it will run out by 2054), and this time will be shortened if we continue on our trajectory of population increases and economic growth (Vaske 2022). Moreover, landfills cannot be built in a day. They require enormous effort to plan, receive clearances and pass inspections, and finally to build to proper safety standards.

 

By diverting materials away from landfills and toward compost facilities, we can:

1. Save precious landfill space for non-biodegradable materials,

2. Reduce landfill costs,

3. Provide local jobs at these composting facilities,

4. Prevent excessive methane emissions from decomposing food scraps at the dump,

5. Provide valuable compost soils for our local residents ( https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/departments/code-compliance/solidwaste/food-scrap-compost).

 

Colleyville already has a small compost drop-off program at the Central Market on Saturdays, from 12pm-2pm, and nearby cities (Plano, Coppell, Flower Mound, Grapevine) also have compost pickups (Compost Carpool). Clearly, there is some demand for the composting services.

 

This report will propose a small and voluntary pilot program of 50-100 residents for composting in the city of Colleyville, very similar to the Plano pilot program that is currently ongoing and in the process of registering participants. This report begins with information on composting, including both why it’s important and hypothesizing why so many people don’t do it. Then it proceeds to explain the details of the proposal, including what can and cannot be composted. I finally conclude with giving a list of requirements that the participants will need to have, what the participants will need to do while participating in the program, and what I believe the city should offer to the residents.

 

Data Section

 

If composting clearly has some important benefits, not only for the Earth but also the local economy, then it seems worthwhile to ask why the rate of composting is relatively low. Unlike many areas of Europe, composting is not mandatory, and that surely is a factor. However, if we want to gauge interest in a possible future composting service, we need to examine reasons why people currently don’t compost, and plan to either overcome or minimize those factors, all while emphasizing the positive effects of composting.

 

Why don’t more people compost?

 

Despite options for composting, and some demand for composting, we unfortunately do not see widespread adoption of composting drop-off. I propose that we have two issues that largely impede greater involvement.

 

1. The Ease Factor. Colleyville’s current compost drop-off service is only available two hours a week, from 12-2pm on Saturdays. If your schedule is busy or even just occupied at this time, this may be impossible to accomplish every week, and if you miss this time window, then you must now wait another week while continuing to store composted materials. With the smell and possible flies, this may be an unacceptable trade.

2. The Knowledge Factor. While there is some information available on-site as to what they accept at the Colleyville drop-off, there isn’t any readily-accessible information online on how to get started, what materials are needed to start, how to avoid common issues of smell and flies, or even why it matters.

 

I believe that if we address the “ease” factor and the “knowledge” factor, and moreover, proactively provide as many of these needed resources as possible, perhaps more Colleyville residents would express their interest and willingness to participate.

 

What is compost?

According to the EPA, compost is decayed organic material that can be used as soil fertilizer, which promotes plant growth, as well as nutrient-rich soil itself (EPA 2022).

Compost is only composed of 4 ingredients which over time will be broken down naturally by decomposers, like bacteria, fungi, and/or worms. These 4 ingredients are green material, brown material, water, and air.

(Alabama Sawyer, 2020.)

 

Green material is what our participants will contribute to the compost facilities, and is composed of organic material like food scraps or some plant materials that will decompose and provide the needed nitrogen. The brown material, not collected in our program, can be imagined as various forms of yard waste, like dead leaves or grass clippings, that provide the necessary carbon. Finally, water and air allow the materials to stay moisturized and aerated so that the decomposers can keep doing their work (EPA 2022).

What materials can or cannot be composted?

 

Despite what some people think, not all food can be composted. While most people’s intuitions on composting is probably correct, in that most unused food and food waste can be recycled, it’s also helpful to re-examine what types of food waste are accepted at local DFW composting facilities. While an internet search will reveal various lists, I gathered from this the Fort Worth and Plano lists of acceptable items (Reynolds 2023; https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/departments/code-compliance/solidwaste/food-scrap-compost). For further reference, please see the appendix.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Can be composted:

· Cooked meats and seafood, including bones, tendons, skin

Chickadee Compost

 

· Dairy items – eggs, eggshells, cream, milk, and other dairy products

· Fruits and vegetables – banana peels, apple cores, and kiwi skins.

· Nuts, nutshells, and seeds

· Coffee filters, coffee grounds, tea bags, and teas

 

Cannot be composted:

· Raw meats and seafood

· Paper – no napkins or stickers on fruit

· Large quantities of cooking oil

· Glass, plastic, metal

· Styrofoam and cardboard

· Pet waste

· Waxed items, such as microwave popcorn

· Wine corks, diapers, chewing gum

 

 

What would participants receive in their package?

 

· 5-gallon bucket with lid, to be placed outside and away from your kitchen to avoid smell and flies. Bring this to nearby collection facilities.

· Small compost container, also with a handle and a lid, to place in your kitchen and make it easy to deposit compost materials. When full, move to the 5-gallon bucket.

· Informational flier with more details on what can and cannot be composted (see appendix i)

· Small magnet encouraging them on their composting journey

· Coupon for free compost

 

   

 

 

What are the steps participants need to do?

If we make it easy for participants, it is hoped that more people will volunteer and more composted materials will be submitted. Therefore, I propose only the following 4 steps:

 

1. Collect compostable material into your small pail.

2. Transfer to the 5-gallon bucket when full

3. Drop off the bucket when full, or earlier if you desire, to one of the drop-off locations near you.

4. Bring your bucket home, rinse, and repeat.

 

For reasons of smell and flies, it is recommended to keep the 5 gallon bucket outside the residence or in the garage. Spreading a layer of soil can also help (Simon 2022). Hopefully, this will minimize some negative associations with composting. Moreover, both of the given items will have lids, which should further help keep the fly and smell factors low.

 

What is required of the city of Colleyville for this pilot program?

 

Organize 2-3 drop-off sites. The nearby city of Plano started their own pilot program in the fall 2022. I propose we model Colleyville’s pilot program on theirs, but on a smaller scale and with fewer registrants. Plano is over 5.5x larger than Colleyville with 8 drop-off sites, so perhaps Colleyville could have 2 or 3 drop-off sites (Reynolds 2023). For example, Market Street, which is centrally located, already offers a spot for compost drop-off from 12-2pm on Saturdays; perhaps they could accept drop-offs for a longer time.

 

Publicize the program and register 50-100 volunteers. Plano’s population is over 10x larger than Colleyville’s, and they are registering 500 residents (U.S. Census Bureau 2021). Perhaps Colleyville could try to register only 50-100 residents. To publicize, the city of Plano made a website for the program, and two local newspapers included it in their publications (Reynolds 2023).

 

Apportion $80-120/registrant for the program, to an expected max of $12,000. Because we are on such a small scale, the cost to the city should be quite minimal. Plano’s program, for example, cost $60,200, but their program is significantly larger than my proposal. Specifically, Plano’s cost per person is $120, but they have 8 drop-off sites, so I suspect that Colleyville’s pilot program would be even cheaper per person with only 2-3 sites, and for only 50-100 residents (Reynolds 2023). For 50 residents at $80/volunteer, that’s only $4,000. For 100 residents at $120/volunteer, that’s $12,000.

 

What are the benefits of compost?

 

Finally, I would like to close with the benefits of compost. Most obviously, compost is healthy for the plants in the soil because they contain nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Secondly, compost helps prevent erosion by boosting the soil’s ability to hold water. Thirdly, compost naturally breaks down further into fertilizer, which saves both money (otherwise spent on commercial fertilizers) and is healthier because it helps produce natural and organic foods (Bronwyn, 2022). And anyone who has visited Whole Foods knows how expensive organic foods are!

 

 

Conclusion

 

Caring for the earth and stewarding her resources will require reducing, reusing, and recycling. Nearby cities are already expanding their compost collection to help prevent unnecessary landfill usage, which saves them money on landfill costs, creates local jobs, and leads to a better and healthier world. I believe our Colleyville also has this potential that is untapped, but before we embark on any big changes, I believe we should start small, see what works and doesn’t work, and proceed incrementally and voluntarily. My goal in this proposal is to develop a small pilot program proposal that can be small, gauge interest, and see what the results show after the pilot program ends.

 

I believe a pilot program of 50-100 volunteers has the potential to usefully gauge interest in such a program, and will provide, at low expense (probably between $4,000 and 12,000) the opportunity to test and see what works in our city and what can be improved upon for any possible future composting program. By organizing only 2 or 3 drop-off stations, at flexible times, and with some publicizing in local newspapers and city news, I believe we can not only find volunteers, but also provide volunteers with needed information and the products they need to start.

 

A more in-depth study could be performed to compare and contrast the various DFW composting facilities regarding pricing and also the logistics of drop-off locations and scheduling. Nonetheless, I believe that the simplicity and low-risk opportunity this small composting pilot program offers has the potential to bring the many benefits of composting into wider public awareness and also lay the groundwork for a successful composting program in the future, grounded in real-world experience and tailored to our local Colleyville context.

 

Food52. Bamboozle Compost Bin.

Bibliography

 

Bronwyn. Bokashi Bran. The Science Behind Composting: Why it’s the Best Thing You Can Do for the Planet. (April 8, 2022). https://bokashibran.co.za/the-science-behind-composting/

 

Chickadee Compost. https://www.chickadeecompost.com/how-it-works

 

City of Fort Worth. Residential Food Waste Composting Program. https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/departments/code-compliance/solidwaste/food-scrap-compost

Compost Carpool. Community Drop-Off: Market Street Colleyville. https://compostcarpool.com/event/community-drop-off-market-street-5/

 

EPA. (Nov 22, 2022). Composting at Home. https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home

 

Food52. Bamboozle Bamboo Compost Bin. https://food52.com/shop/products/4628-bamboo-compost-bin

GENV. (November 8, 2022). How Much Food Is Wasted In The U.S. & What Are The Causes? https://genv.org/food-is-wasted-in-the-us/

Simon, Julia. (2022, April 21). Composting can help fight climate change. Get started in 5 easy steps. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2020/04/07/828918397/how-to-compost-at-home

Reynolds, Jake. (2023, Jan 5). Registration now open for Residential Food Scrap Composting Pilot Program in Plano. Community Impact. https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort-worth/plano-south/government/2023/01/05/registration-now-open-for-residential-food-scrap-composting-pilot-program-in-plano/

 

U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.).  Population. U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved April 10, 2023, from  https://data.census.gov/

 

Vaske, Emma. (Aug 16, 2022). DFW Airport rolls out composting program. Dallas Express. https://dallasexpress.com/city/dfw-airport-rolls-out-composting-program/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix