Reduce the amount of trash you pay to throw away — and reduce the smell, too!

About 20% of the average household's waste is food scraps. Rather than stuffing it into a landfill or even trucking it to a compost facility, the most beneficial way to handle this waste is on site.

Green Cones™ offer a great way for residents to do just this. The Green Cone™ food scrap digester allows you to manage all food scraps on site, including meat, fish, dairy, and bones — materials that are not commonly composted at home because of potential problems with pests and pathogens. Essentially, anything you can scrape off a plate or is left over from food preparation can be put in a Green Cone™. Unlike compost bins, the cones do not produce compost. Rather, the nutrients are released directly into the soil during decomposition, nourishing plants near the cone.

The CVSWMD has tested Green Cones™ in four member communities over the past two years. And the results have been overwhelmingly positive. Sample comments from user surveys:

• "Now I only have 1 kitchen garbage bag a week. I used to have 3."
• "I like the way they look! A visible reminder that [we're] working daily to reduce waste."
• "I'm glad it takes bones…sometimes those large bones [from turkeys and ham] went in the trash. But not anymore! And [the cone] keeps critters out of the trash, too!"

To help make Green Cones™ available to all member communities at a good price, the CVSWMD is hosting two more Green Cone™ sales events before winter!

Dates and Locations:

• October 27 at the CVSWMD Barre Town Recycling Depot
• December 1 at the CVSWMD Barre Town Recycling Depot

Hours: Each Saturday event will be held from 9am to noon.

Cost: Each Green Cone™ costs $60.95 (price includes 6% VT sales tax). Payment is either by cash or check; sorry, no credit cards will be accepted.

To pre-order a Green Cone™ and for more information, please contact Dennis Sauer via e-mail at dsauer@zwinc.org  or call him at Zero Waste Inc. at 802-472-5424.