Letters to the Editor: Curbside composting is great. But many in L.A. don't know that

Los Angeles Times Opinion
·2 min read
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LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 6, 2022 - - Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O'Farrell, as seen in the middle of two stacks of in-home composting pails, spends time with LA Sanitation workers and others before they all delivered the pails to homeowners in Los Feliz on August 6, 2022. 2022 is the year that most residents of Los Angeles are being instructed to dump their kitchen waste into their green organic waste bin. Previously leftover food went into the regular/landfill (brown) trash can. This shift represents the biggest change in solid waste management in decades. The new program comes under a state law that requires cities and counties to change the way they handle leftover food and kitchen waste. The change is designed to help improve soil health and to reduce methane and other greenhouse gases that form when organic waste goes to a regular landfill. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
L.A. sanitation workers prepare to deliver in-home composting pails door to door in Los Feliz on Aug. 6. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

To the editor: Your editorial on curbside composting did not mention that different cities have different composting rules. Some cities allow bones in the compost bin; others do not. Some cities allow compostable bags with the BPI symbol, but apparently Los Angeles does not.

I am 75 years old, and I enjoy knowing that my food waste is going somewhere useful. But, I have the time to think about what goes into the compost bin; I am sure many busy families do not. Deciding how and where to store leftover food until pick-up day will take time.

Patience by city officials throughout the state will be required, and I hope the education efforts you mention for L.A. really do happen everywhere.

In the last few years, we've dealt with a pandemic and have been asked to cut back water and energy use. Now we are being told to do curbside composting. Most of us don't just need the guidelines; we need to be sold on how good this is for the environment and for all of us.

I'm sold on the concept, but others may need convincing.

Susan Ostrowsky, Newport Beach

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To the editor: In the composting editorial, The Times states, "The city also needs to be very clear about what materials are allowed in the green bin."

Given the city's duplicitous and vague public ministrations about what should go into the blue recycling bin, I do not await clear, concise instructions.

The Times should do more by publishing and clarifying rules, and training users to maximize best-use trash disposal habits.

William K. Solberg, Los Angeles

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.