Free kitchen caddies available May 2 for Alachua County residents
Press release from O-Town Compost
ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – O-Town Compost will distribute free 2.5-gallon Kitchen Caddies to Alachua County residents on Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Rural Collection Centers across the county.
The program is designed to help residents divert food scraps from landfills and support composting efforts. Participants will receive a Kitchen Caddy and compostable liners for collecting food waste at home, which can then be dropped off at designated bins at participating centers.
In the program’s first three months, residents diverted more than 3,300 pounds of food scraps from the landfill, according to organizers.
“We’re seeing steady growth in both participation and the amount of food waste being composted,” said Richard Devereaux, Gainesville General Manager of O-Town Compost.
The free caddies are available to Alachua County residents while supplies last. The program is funded through a Circular Economy Grant from Alachua County.
Collection Center Locations:
- Alachua/High Springs – 16929 NW U.S. Hwy 441
- Archer – 19401 SW Archer Road
- Fairbanks – 9920 NE Waldo Road
- North Central – 10714 N State Road 121
- Phifer – 11700 SE Hawthorne Road
Can they do something to collect the food scraps the homeless cats are littering the sidewalks with?
Either that or start issuing citations to those feeding the cats. Community service would suffice — they have enough time on their hands to be protesting; they should at a minimum put that time to good use for the betterment of the community.
By “free”, do they mean overpaid for by tax payers?
Free? We paid for them with our tax dollars. They are only free for the scammers at O-town Compost.
It’s a damn bucket with a paper bag in it, and people are supposed to drive their food scraps all over the city to compost centers? This idea is beyond stupid.
“The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.”
– Wayne Dyer
Then there’s the economic and environmental impact of all the transportation of collected food waste. Is this really better for the environment, considering the energy cost of moving the food waste? Is the financial cost of moving all that waste around really justifiable?
“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Food waste drop-off programs offer a low-cost, high-impact way to reduce disposal expenses while creating measurable local economic value. By allowing residents or businesses to self-deliver organics, these systems eliminate expensive collection routes, reduce hauling and landfill tipping fees, and preserve landfill capacity—an increasingly costly public asset. Research and federal data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency show that composting systems generate more jobs and retain more dollars locally than landfilling, while decentralized models can deliver net economic benefits of around $100 per ton diverted. Supported by major federal investment from the United States Department of Agriculture, drop-off composting is widely recognized as the most cost-effective entry point into food waste diversion, enabling communities and properties to cut costs, avoid future infrastructure expenses, and turn waste into a usable, revenue-generating resource.