• St Louis, Missouri, U.S.
My Name is Isabelle Siharaj, and I am a Senior at Arizona State University working towards my Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability with a focus in Urban Planning, and a minor in Geography.
I am interning at Sustainable House for Michael Mobbs, who will be helping me reduce my food waste by composting in my local community here in St. Louis, Missouri.
In the upcoming weeks I will be working remotely from St. Louis, while attending Arizona State University full-time online and interning for Michael Mobbs. This opportunity wouldn’t be possible for me without the help from my employer Starbucks who has funded my education at Arizona State University. (I use U.S. spelling.)
Apartment Living
For the past few years I have lived in apartments in my hometown St. Louis, MO, and an ongoing issue I’ve seen with many apartments is the lack of resources for proper waste management. I once lived in an apartment that had more than 200 units with only one recycling bin that was hidden at the back of the complex. My current apartment doesn’t have a recycling bin on-site. The picture below is a great example of waste that could be recycled but instead ends up in the trash, about 16 units share one trash bin.
• Example of what my apartment waste management looks like
• The waste container
Distance from apartment to Landfill on a map
• Map shows where I live - red dot - and the Champ Landfill, 11 miles away near the Missouri river, near the suburb of Earth City
Shown above is the area where I live (the red dot on the map) and the distance to the landfill which is north of my apartment. The dump trucks of Waste Connections take the trash to transfer centers where they sort through the trash and remove any hazardous materials, or items that cannot be accepted (batteries for example) into the Champ Landfill. Other bulk items like furniture, and yard waste also end up at the transfer centers. So anything else being thrown into my residential trash bin ends up in the landfill; nothing is being recycled.The closest transfer station to me is 4 miles away,. After sorting the trash the workers load up a larger truck full of trash to transport to the Champ landfill.
Cost of Trash Removal
Waste Connections is the company who services my apartment complex, and other municipalities of St. Louis. They're the industry leader in waste management services throughout the U.S. and Canada with commercial, and residential services [1].
Waste Connections has practiced and set sustainability goals for their company to reduce their carbon footprint. When it comes to costs, residents want to make sure their local municipality contracts are being held to the highest standards. Meaning, trash pickups are coming in a timely manner, recycling is also being picked up, and any other materials (hazardous waste, bulk items, and any other items that do not belong in the Champ landfill). Reference source [1] for more information about Waste Connections.
But if I can reduce my waste going into landfills and sort out my own trash I will be saving the company energy and resources in the future, I hope to also save money myself if my local municipality would give incentives for people who reduce their waste.
What it costs me for trash removal is a fixed rate where I live, it includes water, sewer, and trash at $65 a month. If I assume that each bill costs the same trash pickup would cost me approximately $21.66 for a 1 bed and 1 bath apartment. Trash pickup comes twice a week and on average I take out the trash only once a week and have reduced my waste even more with my compost bin.
Common Themes in Apartments
It’s essential for residents to be able to have access to proper waste disposals in their neighborhood. If every resident who owns a home has a recycling bin and one trash bin, apartment residents need more than one recycling bin as well if we want to cut down on waste going into our landfills.
A common theme many apartment residents - including me - have dealt with is the lack of resources for recycling; many complex buildings either have one recycling bin or none on site leading to recyclable goods being mixed with trash.
Poor management will be one of the biggest reasons why apartments lack the resources needed to have proper waste management. In an article by Riverfront times, it is shown how poor management can leave residents abandoned and uncomfortable when it comes to their safety and proper waste management. Blue Fountain Apartments is now permanently closed due to poor management; this part of St. Louis is considered a lower-income neighborhood [2].
● Dumpster overflowed with trash at Blue Fountain Apartments, image from [2] Ryan Krull
Since the pandemic, the United States has been generating more household garbage in residential areas. In certain areas trash volumes have exceeded 15-30% more since people have been staying home which has led to waste piling up faster at apartment buildings [3]. The Blue Fountain Apartments is just one example of how many apartments across the United States handle waste management.
Composting
Starting my own compost is a step I've taken to reduce my waste.
Currently, I am using an old cookie jar to hold my leftover food waste like potato skins, orange and banana peels, and surprisingly there is no smell coming out of it even from food waste that’s been sitting in there for more than a week.
I am not as creative as most people so I went out and purchased my own compost container rather than making my own. It cost me $74 US dollars from Home Depot and it fits perfectly on my balcony [4]. I plan to also grow a few edible plants on my balcony like mint, chives, and possibly spinach since these are the best options to grow on a balcony that is shaded for more than half of the day [5].
● My cookie jar with a little bit of food waste
• My compost bin from Home Depot
The compost on my balcony is a 18.5 gallon compost bin which is the perfect size for a small balcony. It has a spinning component which is great for mixing my compost around evenly. My worms, when I add them, will both do more mixing for me and reduce the amount of ‘waste’ - food waste breaks down during composting to about one twentieth of its size.
Composting will save me money because I will no longer have to buy potting soil. I will use the compost for my plants this summer, and I have also talked to a few of my neighbors to make them aware of my composting journey and if they would like any compost for their personal patio/balcony gardens.
I have added worms into my compost bin and so far, it has not only made me more excited to keep composting, but it is also great seeing the progress of nature do its job turning my food waste into compost.
• My compost with worms
As you can see in the pictures my compost looks a little dry, so I have sprayed some water into the bin to add moisture for the worms. I have been having difficulties finding ways in keeping my compost bin warm while the temperatures have been dropping overnight to the low 30s, I have been careful not to spray too much water, so the worms do not drown or freeze. I have also run into issues with my compost bin having open holes at the bottom, I have experienced some worms escaping. I am not sure if I should be too worried about the worms falling out, but if anyone has any suggestions on what I should use to plug these holes it would be tremendously helpful (I am currently using scotch tape in the meantime). Also, any other suggestions or recommendations are appreciated, this is my first-time composting, and any advice is welcomed.
As I start my composting journey I will also be keeping track of my food waste with the Cool Seats Calculator available to download in a blog here. For more information about how this calculator works, Marie Neubrander does a terrific job on breaking down the components in her blog there.
Climate Pollution
Municipal solid waste landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States [6].
It’s my goal to reduce my food waste going into landfills by composting, hopefully all the St. Louis residents living near and by current operating landfills take an initiative to reduce their food waste, and for the local governments to start encouraging the community to start composting, and offering incentives for people who reduce their waste.
Living near landfills have caused long-term illnesses among nearby residents, but with the real-time air quality index (AQI) most of St. Louis is “good,” meaning the St. Louis air quality is considered satisfactory, and the air pollution poses little to no risk [7].
• This chart shows my food waste for a week and I produced it using the free coolseats calculator
The chart above shows my food waste for a week. I did not have much food spoilage and there’s a little bit of food waste from fruit and vegetables.
As for plate waste, paper towels were the main contributor, along with empty toilet paper rolls. I ended up composting 4.32kg of food waste which had prevented 10.8kg of carbon from polluting Earth's atmosphere.
Missouri vs Australia in Waste Management
In the United States, Missouri is ranked 28th out of 51 states at managing waste.
Missouri also has the most municipal solid waste landfills which has affected many surrounding neighborhoods' health [8]. In 2016 Missouri had produced more than 5.7 million tons of waste that had gone to landfills. More than 17% of that waste could’ve been composted, 10% of that waste consisted of food waste. The state has been looking for markets to create in communities to be able to drop off their food waste. In other words, small rural communities don’t have infrastructure to collect and process the food waste, nor have a marketplace to sell the byproduct when the composting process is finished [9].
Australia is one of the countries that has produced the most waste per person than the United States, but their efforts to reduce waste going into the landfills have been helping the country to manage their waste.
Australia is ranked 7th in their efforts in reducing plastic waste which is above the global average [10].
Locals in the community have taken initiative to reduce food waste, Michael Mobbs has completely gone off-grid in his sustainable house, also with the creation of coolseats there has been a reduction of household and cafe food waste going to landfills and a reduction in costs [11].
I hope St. Louis City and the county can come together to reduce our food waste going into our landfills like Michael Mobbs and the community he lives in has done with coolseats.
Sources:
[1] https://www.wasteconnections.com/
[3] https://www.realpage.com/blog/growing-apartment-waste-management-problem-and-solution/
[5] https://www.seedtospoon.net/the-top-10-foods-to-grow-on-your-shady-balcony-or-patio/
[6] https://www.epa.gov/lmop/basic-information-about-landfill-gas
[7] https://aqicn.org/forecast/
[8] https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-worst-states-waste-management/
[10] https://www.marineconservation.org.au/australia-7th-in-global-rankings-for-plastic-reduction/