“I would love to see this program become a community program so it’s not just somebody like me championing it, but it’s the community coming together to support and grow it.”
Angela Fox is executive director of Green Michigan, a Muskegon-based nonprofit providing sustainability education and programming. She says her previous experience as sustainability manager for the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak led to her wanting to start a composting program after relocating to Muskegon.
“There’s a little bit of a difference in the fact that this is something that I personally am funding with the hopes that we can get enough interest to make it sustainable and in a long-term program at the farmers market.”
That’s where, for a nominal fee, residents can drop off unwanted food, yard waste and paper products at Fox’s composting booth. It currently costs her around $1,000 a month to operate, but she’s applied for Muskegon Community Foundation and state grants to defray the cost.
“Right now. We’re hoping for community support when they’re participating. A one-time drop off is $3 for up to two five-gallon buckets. A once-a-week drop, or a monthly kind of unlimited, is $10 a month.”
Volunteers who work a three-hour shift receive one month of free composting.
The booth is open Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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