Many of us have become committed to separating our food waste from our trash. This is so important, to reduce the amount of trash that goes off island, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to create more nutrient-rich compost for our island soils.  

Unfortunately, there is going to be a pause between when the composting pilot at the IGI farm concludes at the end of August and when new, permanent locations are available for food waste drop off. Many people are working hard to make this hiatus as brief as possible, including IGI, the Martha’s Vineyard Vision Fellowship, and the Organics Recovery Committee.  

While we wait for permanent food processing facilities to be established, there are a few things we can all do to continue reducing the amount of food in the waste stream:

• Advocate. Solid waste handling in Massachusetts is a municipal responsibility. Reach out to your town administrators and Select Board members and let them know that you would like to be able to bring your separated food scraps to your local transfer station for processing. Encourage them to take action on this today.

• Reduce food waste at home. Make sure you are throwing away as little food as possible. Here are some tips on how to reduce food waste at home, or order a copy of the Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook (ideally from Bunch of Grapes!).

• Take a course on how to compost effectively at home with Roxanne Kapitan. The Vision Fellowship is sponsoring a series of three of these workshops this fall, the first taking place at the IGI Community Garden on September 21st. Keep an eye on the IGI website for more.

• Try vermicomposting. Look into vermicomposting, or composting with worms. This can be done on a small scale at home, and is inexpensive and effective. We do worm composting in many of our schools and it is pretty remarkable!

• Buy a home composting unit. Consider investing in a free-standing compost tumbler or a countertop composting unit. Here is a recent article that reviews different kinds of composters for indoors and outdoors. Some of these are expensive, but if something like this could be a possibility for you, consider investing in one of these with a neighbor or a few neighbors to reduce the per-household cost and build community around neighborhood food waste reduction.



• Stay in touch with the Organics Recovery Committee to be apprised of next steps in the efforts to create permanent food waste handling solutions on the island.  

We at IGI are proud to have been the pilot location for food processing for the past eight years. Together we have diverted over 3 million pounds of food from the waste stream and made thousands of yards of compost that have transformed the soils on our farm. 

Thank you for your commitment to reducing food waste in our community. Permanent solutions are on the horizon. Let’s keep working together to make them a reality!

Photos by Randi Baird Photography