Local Self Reliance: Municipal Composting

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PHOTO: FOTOLIA/PATRYSSIA
Residents of Altoona, PA knew to separate organic waste from dry waste so the city could feed it into the municipal composting program.

For the past several years, the good folks at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Washington, D.C. have worked to help urban residents gain greater control over their lives through the use of low-technology, decentralist tools and concepts. We strongly believe that more people (city dwellers and country folk alike) should be exposed to the Institute’s admirable efforts. 


Altoona, Pennsylvania isn’t the kind of city that brings to mind visions of an ecological utopia . . . but for the past 27 years this industrial city in the Allegheny Mountains has been quietly running a municipal composting system. The process not only turns a good portion of Altoona’s organic waste into a valuable, environmentally sound product, but also conserves a number of resources that are in short supply … including soil, energy, and landfill space.

Voluntary Compliance

Almost any city in the country could follow Altoona’s example. Unfortunately, few towns even consider such action. Instead, most communities burn, dump, and landfill almost 100 million tons of potential soil builder each year . . . at a cost of $3.5 billion (which doesn’t even include the environmental cost of polluted water and air).

  • Published on Mar 1, 1980
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