Make composting acccessible to Minneapolis
The Issue
As a student at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, I have appreciated the utilization and implementation of compostable dinnerware across the many food courts and services across campus. This is a large step forward in reducing waste and promoting sustainability, however, upon leaving campus buildings the opportunity to compost disappears. Undermining any efforts to make eating on campus sutainable.
Minnesota, and Minneapolis in specific, have been nationally recognized for astonishing activism and progressiveness, yet our community is missing an opportunity right at our fingertips. The city adequately provides us with trash and recycling, but lacks any opportunity to compost. This not only eradicates any prior efforts through compostable dinnerware, but directly promotes food waste.
The U.S. Department of Energy found that in 2019, 15.4 million metric tons of food went to waste due to food services, and 25.4 million metric tons were wasted in households (Department of Energy, 2019). These numbers are stark, but if compost bins were more accessible to the public, it would greatly encourage community members to implement composting in their everyday routine.
Here, I plead for the City of Minneapolis to install more compost bins throughout the city, North Loop, Dinkytown, Downtown,, all of it. This includes popularly trafficked areas including sidewalks, bus stops, and public parks, anywhere a trash or recycling bin would be. These efforts would increase the healthiness of our city, improve our economy, our education, and community.
Together, we can ensure that our city reflects the values we hold on our campus and promote a more sustainable future. By signing this petition, you are advocating for a Minneapolis that not only talks about sustainability but practices it effectively across all public spaces. Join me in calling for actionable change that benefits our environment and community. Let's make compost bins as accessible as trash cans in our beautiful city! Please sign this petition to create a lasting impact on our community's environmental health.
Sources
Carpenter, Alberta, and National Renewable Energy Laboratory issuing body. “Sustainable
Manufacturing : Opportunities, Trends, and Technoeconomic Analysis /.” (Golden, CO),
June 2019.
Huang, Minghong, Diane Purchase, and Nicholas Dickinson. Food Waste Valorisation :
Food, Feed, Fertiliser, Fuel and Value-Added Products. World Scientific Publishing Europe, 2023.
Hwang, SunMin May. "Aesthetics of Produce: A Systemic and Design-Based Approach to
Reducing Food Waste." Order No. 30244687, University of Minnesota, 2022, http://login.ezproxy.lib.umn.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/aesthetics-produce-systemic-design-based-approach/docview/2774381776/se-2
(accessed October 23, 2026).
Landells, Esther, Anjum Naweed, David H. Pearson, Gamithri G. Karunasena, and Samuel
Oakden. 2022. "Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Using Post-Kerbside Organics Treatment Systems to Engage Australian Communities with Pro-Environmental Household Food Waste Behaviours" Sustainability 14, no. 14: 8699. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148699
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “EPA, USDA and FDA are working together through
their Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative.” October 30, 2019. Youtube, 7:28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5AJwIfytZA
U.S. Congress. House. Committee on Agriculture. Cultivating Organic Matter through the
Promotion Of Sustainable Techniques Act. 119th Cong., 1st sess., H. Rep. Julia Brownley
74
The Issue
As a student at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, I have appreciated the utilization and implementation of compostable dinnerware across the many food courts and services across campus. This is a large step forward in reducing waste and promoting sustainability, however, upon leaving campus buildings the opportunity to compost disappears. Undermining any efforts to make eating on campus sutainable.
Minnesota, and Minneapolis in specific, have been nationally recognized for astonishing activism and progressiveness, yet our community is missing an opportunity right at our fingertips. The city adequately provides us with trash and recycling, but lacks any opportunity to compost. This not only eradicates any prior efforts through compostable dinnerware, but directly promotes food waste.
The U.S. Department of Energy found that in 2019, 15.4 million metric tons of food went to waste due to food services, and 25.4 million metric tons were wasted in households (Department of Energy, 2019). These numbers are stark, but if compost bins were more accessible to the public, it would greatly encourage community members to implement composting in their everyday routine.
Here, I plead for the City of Minneapolis to install more compost bins throughout the city, North Loop, Dinkytown, Downtown,, all of it. This includes popularly trafficked areas including sidewalks, bus stops, and public parks, anywhere a trash or recycling bin would be. These efforts would increase the healthiness of our city, improve our economy, our education, and community.
Together, we can ensure that our city reflects the values we hold on our campus and promote a more sustainable future. By signing this petition, you are advocating for a Minneapolis that not only talks about sustainability but practices it effectively across all public spaces. Join me in calling for actionable change that benefits our environment and community. Let's make compost bins as accessible as trash cans in our beautiful city! Please sign this petition to create a lasting impact on our community's environmental health.
Sources
Carpenter, Alberta, and National Renewable Energy Laboratory issuing body. “Sustainable
Manufacturing : Opportunities, Trends, and Technoeconomic Analysis /.” (Golden, CO),
June 2019.
Huang, Minghong, Diane Purchase, and Nicholas Dickinson. Food Waste Valorisation :
Food, Feed, Fertiliser, Fuel and Value-Added Products. World Scientific Publishing Europe, 2023.
Hwang, SunMin May. "Aesthetics of Produce: A Systemic and Design-Based Approach to
Reducing Food Waste." Order No. 30244687, University of Minnesota, 2022, http://login.ezproxy.lib.umn.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/aesthetics-produce-systemic-design-based-approach/docview/2774381776/se-2
(accessed October 23, 2026).
Landells, Esther, Anjum Naweed, David H. Pearson, Gamithri G. Karunasena, and Samuel
Oakden. 2022. "Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Using Post-Kerbside Organics Treatment Systems to Engage Australian Communities with Pro-Environmental Household Food Waste Behaviours" Sustainability 14, no. 14: 8699. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148699
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “EPA, USDA and FDA are working together through
their Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative.” October 30, 2019. Youtube, 7:28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5AJwIfytZA
U.S. Congress. House. Committee on Agriculture. Cultivating Organic Matter through the
Promotion Of Sustainable Techniques Act. 119th Cong., 1st sess., H. Rep. Julia Brownley
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Petition created on October 27, 2026