The City of Tacoma and Mill are inviting residents to participate in a first-of-its-kind kitchen scraps pilot.
Tacoma is the first municipality in the country to pilot this innovative new approach to tackling food waste and to support residents who care about this issue and want to take practical action to address climate change.
Over the course of a year, the City will study aggregated and de-identified data from residents who sign up with Mill. The data from this pilot will help inform waste prevention and food waste reduction programs and make progress against the City’s sustainability goals.
Did you know?
- ~28% of Tacoma’s residential garbage stream consists of food waste?*
- Tacoma’s food & yard waste curbside bins consist primarily of yard waste (91.7%). Food waste accounts for less than 5%.* This means a lot of food is ending up in landfills.
- When food ends up in landfills, it releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas 80 times more powerful than CO2, and residential households are the single largest source of wasted food in landfills.
Information for Tacoma Residents:
- Get priority access to a limited number of Mill subscriptions
- Participants will be responsible for the Mill subscription costs, which will be paid directly to Mill.
- Learn about opportunities to offset the cost of the monthly Mill subscription by downsizing your garbage container (up to $25.60/month for some customers, see detail below).
- Participate in surveys to provide valuable insights to the city to inform food waste reduction programs
Downsize & Save
Kitchen scraps account for ~28%* of Tacoma’s residential waste stream. By putting your kitchen scraps in the Mill kitchen bin rather than in the garbage can, you can significantly reduce the volume of waste created by your household.
As residents reduce the amount of kitchen scraps tossed in their garbage, they are encouraged to evaluate if they can downsize their garbage container - which can save up to $25.60 per month to help offset the cost of a Mill subscription.
Sources:
*2015 City of Tacoma Sustainable Materials Management Waste Stream Composition Study