By MATT DEMIRS
LYNN — The city is selling composters at a reduced price to encourage city dwellers to lower the amount of waste in landfills.
For $25 residents can buy the “Earth Machine,” a home composter. The 80-gallon device retails for $99. So far, more than two dozen have been purchased.
“We are offering these composters to Lynn residents because it will decrease solid waste in the city” said Lisa Nerich, Department of Public Works associate commissioner, in a statement. “More people composting and gardening makes for a better city.”
The city received funding for the project from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Instructions for the device call on users to fill the composter with food scraps and yard waste. It should be a three-to-one ratio: three parts dry materials such as paper, leaves and clippings, and one part nitrogen, including fruits, vegetables, and grains. Meat, dairy, or grease should not be added.
Food waste accounts for more than 25 percent of the waste in Massachusetts after recycling, more than one million tons per year, DEP said. By diverting these materials from disposal facilities, it reduces the amount of waste going to landfills and incinerators and conserves natural resources, the agency said.
“Composting is a great way to divert food waste for residents, especially if they garden,” Mary Gatlin of Lynn Community Gardens said in a statement. “The composting process turns organic material, such as food, leaf and yard waste, and waxed cardboard into a rich soil amendment that will improve their garden and lower the carbon footprint of the soil.”
DPW will be offering a training on using the composters on June 17 at a time to be announced. Check the DPW page on the city’s website, lynnma.gov, for more information.
Matt Demirs can be reached at mdemirs@itemlive.com.