City News Bytes: Waste Reduction Program, Removing Invasion Species, Ferry Terminal Update, Wykcoff Superfund Site, and More

Update on City’s Food Waste Reduction Program

You might be aware of the City of Bainbridge Island’s pilot program to keep food waste out of the landfill. The City received a $50,000 grant to measure how much waste the island could divert from the landfills. “We are encouraging the community to separate food waste with little kitchen garbage pails and place the food waste into a Bainbridge Disposal green yard waste bin, or better yet, use the food waste in your home composting,” says City Manager Blair King. “This initiative is part of Bainbridge Island’s Climate Action Plan. Food waste typically represents a high percentage of the waste that goes to landfills. When it reaches the landfill, it breaks down and becomes the greenhouse gas methane, a significant contributor to global warming.”

“We have a food waste pail at our house,” King adds. “It sits under the sink. I think we do a good job of tossing food scraps and organic waste into the pail. It’s pretty easy with banana peels, eggshells, and peach skins. Sometimes, smaller items like cherry pits get overlooked, or when the table scraps have too much liquid and are too runny, I wonder if the pail is the right place for them. We’ll drain the plate into the sink. Since we don’t have a garbage disposal we keep a screen over the drain. The pieces of food are collected in the screen, and then we’ll scrape out the screen and put it in the kitchen pail. We usually line the kitchen pail with newspaper. It absorbs the moisture and keeps the odor down. It all gets tossed into the green yard waste. We just discovered compostable food scrap bags for kitchen pails. We are giving these a try in lieu of newspapers to see if the convenience outweighs the cost.”

Currently, there are 78 households participating in the City’s kitchen waste pail pilot program. Participants are spread across the island with the most participants coming from Winslow area and Rolling Bay. Through the pilot program, the City hopes to gauge the amount of organic material it could divert from the landfill if the City were to go citywide with kitchen pails. Unless someone plans to home compost or do a worm bin, a green yard waste bin is needed from Bainbridge Disposal. The City still has a few pails to give away to households that may want to participate in the pilot program. If you are interested, send an email to anebenzahl@bainbridgewa.gov.

“Just like many other things we do to be good stewards of the environment, separating food waste is not new,” King points out. “Back in the day, it was common to separate kitchen waste and table scraps for livestock feed. Back then, people had to use a bucket, now we use a cool little food waste pail with a lid.”

Student Corps Helps Remove Invasive Vegetation

The City of Bainbridge Island recently partnered with Bainbridge Island Metro Parks and Recreation District (BIMPRD) to have the Student Conservation Corps (SCoCo) remove invasive vegetation at Morales Farm as part of the City’s Farm Trail project.

SCoCo, a paid youth employment program, is dedicated to fighting noxious weeds. Together with BIMPRD, the City is working to restore Manzanita Creek where it crosses the Morales Farm property by planting and nurturing native vegetation.

Corps members also attended “lunch and learn” sessions with conservation experts from the City and Kitsap Conservation District, gaining valuable education and career advice. This collaboration highlights the power of local talent in improving Bainbridge Island’s environment.

Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal Update

This week, August 12-16, Washington State Ferries (WSF) Terminal Engineering staff and project contractors will complete some of the last items on Bainbridge’s new overhead loading. Part of finishing the project is switching over to new equipment.

To do that, WSF will operate out of the terminal’s slip one, with car deck loading on Tues., Aug. 13. WSF expects the work to begin at 3am and be finished around 4pm.

Here’s the Latest with What is Happening with EPA/Wykcoff Superfund Site

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is starting its wellfield replacement project at the Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site in Eagle Harbor.

Active construction is getting underway this month. Safety fencing will be put up with a 50-foot buffer around the southeast corner of the site to protect the public. The fencing will remain in place throughout the wellfield replacement project, which the EPA anticipates will last through the end of 2024.

During this time, the public will not be able to access the southeast corner area, including the Creosote Park Bench. The EPA will reassess public access to the park and Creosote Place NE during future phases of construction in late 2024 or early 2025. More information visit: Fact Sheet: Construction Activities are Ramping up at the Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site. (epa.gov)

Short Term Vacation Rentals Must Register by Sept. 30

The City of Bainbridge Island’s new, easy-to-use Short-Term Vacation Rental Registration Portal is now open.

If you are the owner or operator of a Short Term Vacation Rental on the island, you must register by September 30 to be in compliance with Ordinance 2024-18.

Source Materials: Photos and graphics courtesy of the City of Bainbridge

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