LINCOLN SQUARE — Garbage is garbage — whether it's potato peels or plastic foam, it all winds up in landfills.
On Wednesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced an ordinance that would remove a certain amount of organic matter — such as potato peels — from the waste stream by expanding the kinds of materials the city's community gardens and urban farms are allowed to compost.
“Composting supports the reuse of material that would otherwise be considered waste and sent to landfills,” Julie Morita, Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner, said in a statement.
Patty Wetli discusses what the new ordinance could mean for city waste:
Vegetable scraps and egg shells would be included among the permissible items, along with landscape waste such as grass clippings.
"I'm excited that Mayor Emanuel supports communities that are wanting to make a difference," said LaManda Joy, founder of the Peterson Garden Project, which operates several "pop-up" community gardens on Chicago's North Side.
"Changes to ordinances like this allow everyone to get involved in the urban [agriculture] movement that is making such an impact in Chicago," she said.
If approved, the ordinance would also create a community garden registry and introduce a permit that urban farms could obtain in order to compost livestock waste. Both of these components of the legislation are aimed at ensuring public health standards.
"Urban agriculture will help make our communities more environmentally friendly and sustainable,” Emanuel said in announcing the ordinance. “Expanding composting is an easy way to support our neighborhoods in growing fresh fruits and vegetables right in their own backyards.”
In 2011, Emanuel passed the Urban Farm ordinance, which, according to the mayor's office, helped grow the number of urban farms in the city from two to 13.
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