Gardeners and plant enthusiasts rejoice, St. Petersburg residents can now request a composting bin through the city’s sanitation department.
“I think it’s great,” said Gulfport Mayor Sam Henderson. “If we can piggy-back off something like this I think it’s a good thing.”
The new program, launched on July 15, is for single-family homes with a backyard in the St. Petersburg area, and by the numbers, the program has been a success.
An initial 500 bins were ordered before the program began, but St. Petersburg composters quickly blew through hundreds of receptacles, with 250 bins passed out within the first day of the new project, and 4,100 ordered in total, according to the city.
According to the City of St. Petersburg, 30 percent of what a person throws away can be composted. Unwanted vegetables, fruits and lawn clippings can all be thrown into a bin and converted into grade-A fertilizer over time.
“I’ve never used an actual bin [for composting],” Henderson said, “but I think it’ll be great as long as people are courteous to their neighbors.”
The program started shortly after a bill that allows Floridians to legally grow produce on their property passed through the Florida House in May of this year. Bill 93-16, paired with St. Petersburg’s composting program only encourages the growth of small, natural gardens in Pinellas.
For more information, or to sign up, visit stpete.org/sanitation/composting.php.
