HELENA — America Recycles Day is dedicated to promoting and celebrating reduce, reuse, recycle every year on November 15.
Another - sometimes overlooked - part of that green cycle is food waste and one local composting company in town is working to make a difference on this aspect.
“So when you’re composting, it’s another step you can take outside of recycling," Haley McKnight, Communications Coordinator for 406 Compost, told MTN News.
Bright green buckets are on display at the Real Food Market & Deli and they are the staple of 406 Compost - the organization is an offshoot of 406 Recycling.
"It's not garbage, we don't use the g-word here, it's all compost-ables," McKnight, joked.
"So here at the Real Food Market, if you pick up one of our compost buckets for home service, it is $15 dollars for one month of service and we will come to your house and we will pick it up. You fill it up as much or as little as you need to and every 2 weeks we'll come and grab it off your doorstep and replace it with a clean one," McKnight explained.
The front-porch pick-up program has staff driving routes around town every other week. Residents of more rural areas can drop off buckets at select exchange locations in town. Then, at Yes Compost in Belgrade, food scraps such as eggshells, coffee grounds, and even meat get transformed.
"When you finish your meal, you take your scraps and put them in this bucket and they are fed to worms, and the worms break it down and turn into this really, really nutrient rich soil that gets put back into our soil cycle.
The facility can also process compost-able Eco Montana products like cups, cutlery and plates.
McKnight said that in honor of America Recycles Day new composting customers to 406 Compost will get a bonus month; "all this week if they sign up, we give them a free month of service."
If you want more information on the services offered by 406 Compost and 406 Recycling, there's an e-waste collection event Friday at Good Samaritan in Helena.
