Cash for Compost in Our Cities

When scraps end up in our nation's landfills and decompose without access to oxygen, they release methane gas, which is many times more potent than carbon dioxide.  Hence, composting is an important environmental safeguard. Until recently, composting was considered the domain of dedicated environmentally conscious gardeners in the suburbs. But that's changing. Washington D.C.'s curbside compost pickup program allows city dwellers to dispose of their organic waste in an environmentally responsible manner.

We're proud to announce that residents at NHT-Enterprise's Monseñor Romero property were the among the first apartment dwellers in D.C. to implement on-site composing. After initial resident participation in the composting program turned out to be meager, NHT staff brainstormed solutions, tested various concepts, and determined that all we needed was a little friendly competition.

For ten weeks, residents of Monseñor Romero competed in a compost competition. Each of the building's five floors was assigned a compost bin. Residents worked as a team to try to compost more than the other floors. The heaviest bin each week was deemed the winner, earning each apartment on the floor a prize. The competition proved fierce, producing nearly one half-ton of compost in 10 weeks and taking participation in the compost program from 10% to 50% of building residents! We are very proud of this program and believe it has broad implications for making behavior change to address environmental issues.

NHT plans to use this incentive-based model to engage residents in other environmental issues like recycling. We are responsible for environmental stewardship. Also, composting actually reduces operational costs and increases our capacity to maintain high-quality green affordable housing and helps us to keep our housing affordable for low-income families.