Opinion: Help see this compost initiative project through
An editorial that appeared in the Herald Star
Friday, March 27, 2009

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Village officials are eager to continue to keep Wintersville nice this fall with the help of a $5,000 grant they recently received through the Jefferson-Belmont Regional Solid Waste Authority.

Administrator Walt Ziemba noted the village applied for the grant to be used in their compost initiative project, which will call upon community and school groups to help rake up leaves throughout the community this fall to be "sucked up" with a new piece of machinery the village will purchase with the grant.

Ziemba noted the tow-behind vacuum from Dinkmar Inc. is a curb runner for left- or right-hand leaf pickup. As long as community members do their part to put their leaves in big piles along the road this fall, the village will do the rest.

The machine will go along the curb and vacuum up the leaves, which will be turned into mulch that will be taken to a specified site for any resident to go and get mulch for garden or home projects.

The new machine will benefit all in the community. Not only will it keep our streets clean and safe from damp, unmanageable leaves, but it also will produce a byproduct that can be used by everyone for beautification purposes throughout the village.

Ziemba said a main component of the compost initiative is to educate school, church and civic groups about the project to encourage their participation. He noted the village will be divided into scheduled sections to make collection easier, and volunteers can donate their time to rake up the leaves into piles along the roads during the scheduled pickups.

The site where the mulch will be made available for community and private use will be designated at a later date.

We look forward to the purchase of the leaf vacuum and encourage all residents to do their part to see this compost initiative project through.

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