In honor of Earth Month, the Department of Public Works (DPW) announced the reopening of food waste drop-offs throughout the city, and an array of other services.
On Earth Day weekend, April 21-22, DPW will be giving away kitchen caddies to the first 50 participants at each open drop-off location to help residents compost their food waste.
“Helping residents recycle and compost are priorities for DPW year-round as we work toward a cleaner and greener D.C.,” DPW Director Christopher Shorter said.
Mayor Muriel Bowser kicked off DPW’s first citywide Food Waste Drop-Off program on Earth Day 2017.
Through the free service, residents are able to drop-off food waste at designated farmers markets in all eight wards.
The food waste collected at these drop-off locations is composted locally at District community composting sites and at the Prince George’s County Organics Compost facility.
As of April 1, the Food Waste Drop-Off program had collected nearly 150,000 pounds of organics from more than 20,000 participants in all eight wards over the last year, according to DPW.
Residents are encouraged to drop off the following types of food items: fruit and vegetable scraps, breads, grains, cereals, rice and pasta, coffee grounds, coffee filters and tea bags, eggshells, household flowers and nutshells.
Dairy, meat and fish items are not accepted.
To help answer residents’ questions about how best to properly dispose of materials, DPW has also launched a new search tool on the Zero Waste DC website.
Using the app, “What Goes Where?” residents can type in almost any item they can think of, after which they will be provided with information on how that item should be disposed of, recycled, reused or composted in the District.
The app includes instructions on how to safely and legally dispose of household hazardous waste items and e-cycle electronic items.
“This Earth Day and throughout April, I encourage residents to familiarize themselves with the services DPW offers, and consider how they can fully utilize our city’s programs to be good environmental stewards,” Shorter said.