To the Editor: This letter is in regards to Town of St. Paul Mayor Glenn Anderson's intent for the town to conduct a Solid Waste to Energy Feasibility Study.
To the Editor:
This letter is in regards to Town of St. Paul Mayor Glenn Anderson's intent for the town to conduct a Solid Waste to Energy Feasibility Study.
Kudos to the Mayor for anticipating the future for municipalities, dealing with the increasing costs of Solid Waste Management by implementing a feasibility study.
Perhaps in conjunction with the study, an attempt could be made by the Town to support or initiate programs that would reduce the amount of solid waste that has to be landfilled. Three such programs exist:
2nd Harvest Project: the 2nd Harvest Project has received and re-distributed over 18,000 kgs of unsaleable fruit and vegetables from two grocery stores in St. Paul. This would equate to about 724 m3 of material that would have been landfilled.
St. Paul and District Food Bank: the Food Bank has received and re-distributed over 11,000 kgs of near or dated pastries and bread from two stores in St. Paul. This would equate to about 440 m3 of material that would have been landfilled.
St. Paul Community Garden: the Community Garden has a Composting Project that has used about 16 m3 of used coffee ground and shredded paper to produce compost to revitalize the soil. This material would have been landfilled.
Over 1,180 cubic meters of material has not been landfilled through the efforts of these three groups. These programs could be used as models for community wide efforts to reduce the amount of solid waste materials that have to be landfilled.
David Robinson
St. Paul
