inthe Compost-it Notes
& rants Your commentary | opinions
GreenWoo slants
Brett Sullivan
I
t’s six o’clock in the morning, and I’m looking out my window. Guess what I see? How about the sun? Definitely one of the first signs that winter has skipped town and spring has arrived. Birds swooping to and fro, bees busily buzzing and bouncing from flower to flower sampling an assortment of pollen and the smell of life is in the air. Then it hits me, “What the heck is that smell?!” Gag, purge. Along with the smell of life comes the smell of death and decomposition, the Yin and the Yang. The rank breeze wafting from my neighbor’s compost pile has interrupted my early-morning reflections like an odorous Mr. Furley. Since my neighbor is usually out in the yard before I even awake from my slumber, I decide to casually make my way over there for further inspection. “Hi Crystal!” (All names have been changed to protect the cultivators of funk.) She smiles and nods, her hands wrist deep in the noxious culprit. I immediately cut to the chase, “What is that smell?” “A compost pile for my garden. Good way to get rid of egg shells, grass clippings and cardboard. I do this every spring.” Oh do tell! Thirty minutes later, and with her help and the EPA’s, I was able to provide the following information for my fellow Worcesterites looking to sow seeds and till the land, while recycling, reusing and reducing.
Did You Know That Composting Can... • Slow plant diseases and various pests. • Reduce or eliminate the need for nonorganic fertilizers. • Promote higher yields of crops.
• Facilitate reforestation, wetlands restoration, and habitat revitalization efforts. How To Start…Compost the following items ONLY to be on the safe side: All composting requires three basic ingredients: • Browns—Includes materials such as dead leaves, branches, twigs. • Greens—Includes materials such as grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps and coffee grounds. • Water.
Backyard Composting 1. Select a dry, shady spot near a water source for your compost pile or bin. 2. Before you add your brown and green materials, make sure larger pieces are chopped or shredded. 3. Cover your composting area with a six-inch layer of brown materials. 4. Add a three-inch layer of green materials and a little soil or finished compost. 5. Lightly mix the two layers above. 6. Top with a three-inch layer of brown materials, adding water until moist. 7. Turn your compost pile every week or two with a pitchfork to distribute air and moisture. Move the dry materials from the edges into the middle of the pile. Continue this practice until the pile does not re-heat much after turning. 8. Your compost will be ready in one to four months, but let the pile sit for two weeks before using. For more information about composting (or stimulating your neighbor’s sense of smell), check out Epa.Gov or contact Green Wizard directly at Info@TrashWizard.com.
turn
Promises kept Joseph O’Brien, Mayor
I
n my inaugural address on January 4th, 2010, I promised that I would work hard every day to encourage economic growth, improve schools, strengthen neighborhoods and bring new civic participation and accountability to local government. Over the last year, some talk show hosts and some columnists have repeatedly misled the public about my record, but with the help of Worcester’s appointed and elected officials I have been able to keep these promises. Over this past year and a half our City Council and School Committee have accomplished a great deal that often escapes the headlines, airways and blogs, but I think people need to know about it. On the economic development front, projects like City Square, Gateway II and the CSX freight yard have gotten off the drawing boards. We have more than a billion dollars of projects underway that are creating thousands of new jobs and adding new tax revenues. As Mayor I have continued to convene the Mayor’s Brownfield Roundtable to address Worcester’s long-standing Brownfield challenges. I have also started the Small Business Roundtable to better support our small business community. As promised, soon after taking office I convened a Mayor’s Task Force on Job Growth and Retention. This group developed a comprehensive agenda for economic growth and some of its recommendations have already been adopted. Because of this work I was persuaded to support a balanced approach to tax classification and this resulted in a small increase in residential property taxes in order to avoid dramatic increases on small business owners. This modest change cost the average residential owner $30 dollars per year, not the hundreds of dollars that some have claimed. In response to concerns about the conditions of our school buildings this year we approved a five-year, $30 million capital improvement plan that will make substantial repairs to our buildings and on technological improvements. We mobilized leaders from the community to redesign our underperforming schools and Worcester has five schools slated to become “innovation schools.” I also convened a special committee to work on addressing the challenges faced by our Latino students and we are one of only 19 cities in the country selected by the federal government as a “Promise Neighborhood” community. This past year, we also made some significant investments in our neighborhoods when the Council approved a $20 million plan to improve streets and sidewalks and we have allocated more than $10 million for improvements to our parks. I have restarted Mayor’s Walks and held more than 40 office hours at City Hall to encourage civic engagement. Last week we also launched the first ever Worcester Civic Academy, a four week program to build the civic capacity of community leaders. I have been an “active and engaged” Mayor and this at times annoys those who think the Mayor’s office should be ceremonial. I have taken on some tough issues, like supporting organized labor, and done things that are at times unpopular, like asking for a more open discussion of state revenues. This has at times irritated even some of my friends, but leadership is not about winning popularity contests or making pundits happy. Others can harp on what’s wrong in our city, but I am proud to say that Worcester is a great city and we are getting even better. M AY 1 2 , 2 0 1 1 • W O R C E S T E R M A G . C O M
11