The Eugene Compost Trial could prove to have a negative effect on the community due to a multitude of different issues that coincide with composting. Pulling from the Portland composting project already implemented there, some of the issues that they have had are changing the garbage pickup from weekly to bi-monthly, smell, and unwanted animal and insect life. According to OPB, some residents from Portland are unhappy about the switch. For some citizens with larger families or who produce a lot of garbage frequently need their garbage removed weekly (Profita, Cassandra. “The Pros and Cons of Curbside Composting In Portland”). These bi-monthly pickups can also account for the smell that composting produces. The Eugene Compost Project will be entering its first summer this year. It is known that Eugene tends to get very hot in the summer.

This will account for the smell. But another component that can account for the smell produced by compost is that the Eugene Compost Project will allow its residents to compost meat and dairy products. Composting these products can cause compost to have a rotten smell ( Metro. “Compost Trouble-Shooting”). The odor that is produced by the compost can also attribute to the presence of unwanted animals and insect life. Pulling again from the Portland results a member of the project stated that, “Rats have chewed on our garbage bin. We have flies now that we have never had. Its awful…” (Perri Combs. Profita, Cassandra. “The Pros and Cons of Curbside Composting In Portland”). Especially since Eugene allows residents are allowed to include meat, bones, and dairy products in their composting. The continuation of the Eugene Compost Project could cause infestation issues for those who choose to keep their composting bins outside. It could also create an uncomfortable living environment via smell and bi-monthly pickup. The cost of this new project is also a factor to consider when deciding if this is the right choice for Eugene. This trial will cost $200,000 of the city’s money for the two years for the small neighborhood test areas (Russo, 2016). It’s unclear how much it would cost for the entire city of Eugene if it were implemented into policy after the trial is complete. In portland, it increased overall refuse disposal by $1,000,000 for residents (Slovic, 2011).

The designated compost bins distributed for the collection leave something to be desired: only ~1 gallon in size for a weekly/bimonthly amount of time. According to DoSomething.org the average person creates 4 pounds of waste everyday (2015). So, if ~40% of that waste is compostable organic waste that’s an average of ~1.5 pounds a day and a gallon sized container should hold ~8.3 pounds, which means that sized receptacle should last ~5.5 days (Chameides, 2013). What are people to do when they’ve already filled the bucket for the one or two week time period between collections? The bin might also lose some integrity when sitting outside (where most people keep their compost) in the sun and isn’t the most secure when it comes to wildlife.

The fertilizer will be sold back to the community residents; Rexius will be processing the compost, a 90-day process, and turning it into fertilizer that will be available for purchase at local retailers (Russo, 2016). At BRING recycling the 18-quart bags of Love Food Not Waste compost is available for $4.45 (BRING, 2017). Is this another capitalist venture in the name of environmental conservation? In Portland, Maine the fertilizer produced from the compost is donated to community gardens and 2.5 pounds are available to participants per week to be delivered to their curbside free of charge (Garbage to Garden).

Fertilizer produced and packaged by Rexius from the organic waste collected.