Dalton Green Committee Discusses Getting Compost Program

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story
DALTON, Mass. — The Green Committee is mulling the potential of a composting program at the transfer station. 
 
The program would allow residents to bring organic compost to the transfer station without charge.  
 
The compost station would have three sections separated by concrete cubes. Every six months to a year, the compost would be moved to a different section as it breaks down, committee member Antonio Pagliarulo said. 
 
Pagliarulo and committee member Thomas Irwin visited the Egremont Transfer Station to inform Dalton's proposed program. 
 
"It's gratis to the townspeople of Egremont. They leave their compost, and then at the final year, they pick up what they wish to take home. Very simple, very straightforward," Pagliarulo said. 
 
Egremont's program was established 10 years ago before all the permitting, he said. Now there is a lot more state Department of Environmental Protection involvement so Dalton has to navigate through a lot more permitting. 
 
After speaking with various organizations, Pagliarulo realized that other than Williamstown, Egremont is the only town in Berkshire County that has a composting program for kitchen scraps.
 
In Williamstown, residents purchase buckets so that the transfer station knows who is using the program. They bring filled buckets to the transfer station where the compostable material is put into one of the two large vats in a shed and covered with sawdust. The compost is collected two times a week. 
 
"That's a more costly system. That is in a pilot program now with 75 families," Pagliarulo said. 
 
Williamstown Composts won't know the actual cost of the program until the end of the calendar year but will keep Pagliarulo up to date on that. 
 
The Center for EcoTechnology sent Pagliarulo all the information and forms needed to have it consult during this process.  
 
Pagliarulo will share this with the committee and continue to discuss the program with Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson and Highway Superintendent Edward "Bud" Hall. Hall runs the transfer station. 

Tags: composting,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Soldier On 5K Sunday in Pittsfield

Community submission
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Soldier On and the Berkshire Running Foundation will host the inaugural Soldier On 5K Walk/Run Sunday, Nov. 10 at the First Street Common in Pittsfield at 9 a.m.
 
This event will help support the mission at Soldier On. Soldier On is a private nonprofit organization committed to ending veteran homelessness. Since 1994, the organization has been providing homeless veterans with transitional housing and supportive services.
 
In 2010, Soldier On opened the first Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Community, a permanent housing cooperative that provides formerly homeless veterans with safe, sustainable, affordable housing – transitioning them from homelessness to homeownership. This housing model will be replicated nationally as Soldier On continues to change the end of the story for homeless veterans throughout the country.
 
 “Soldier On is excited to collaborate with Berkshire Running Foundation, as they host the first annual Veterans Day 5K run/walk this weekend,” Soldier On President and CEO Bruce Buckley said. “The event will support the many at-risk veterans that Soldier On serves. These events not only provide financial support for our veterans, but it creates a larger community of support that lasts far beyond the day of the 5K.”
 
Registration for the event can be done online until Friday, at 5PM by logging onto https://www.zippy-reg.com/online_reg/index.php?e=2049 and all the event details can be found on the www.berkshirerun.org website. Walkers and runners will receive a long sleeve technical running shirt and post race breakfast sandwiches provided by Biggin’s Diggins.
 
Bib pick up and in store registration will be at Berkshire Running Center on Saturday, Nov. 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Volunteers are needed to help with this event, please contact Shiobbean Lemme at director@berkshirerun.org.
 
View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories