To The Editor:

I was disappointed to learn that Princeton’s Curbside Food Waste Recycling Program is in jeopardy for lack of adequate participation in the pilot program.

Instead of sending our organic waste to the landfill, where it produces methane (a greenhouse gas with a warming effect more than 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide), Princeton residents can now send it to an organic waste recycling facility designed to speedily turn it into compost.

As participants for the past year, we separate our organic waste into a green compost cart collected by the hauler as part of our weekly trash pick–up. I use biodegradable bags or a sheet of newspaper and deposit our waste in the green can daily, a simple procedure since we throw this stuff in our trash anyway, don’t we? We have never had bugs or any other undesirable consequences.

To my surprise, I found that curbside pickup accepts many items that cannot be composted in my backyard, including meat, fish, dairy and cheeses, bones, fat, sauces, greasy pizza boxes, paper food wraps, paper cups plates and napkins, paper towel and tissues, hair, orange rinds, vacuum cleaner and dryer lint, and every other organic item, even natural fiber clothing!

Princeton is reportedly the first town in New Jersey and one of the first on the east coast to offer this program. Full participation would bring a reduction of 30 percent in the trash Princeton generates, which would mean a large reduction in municipal trash disposal costs as well.

The program needs 500 participants to ensure its continued operation. Princeton residents, contact Janet Pellichero at (609) 688-2566 ext. 1478 to become part of an important Princeton initiative.

Barbara Cuneo, Alan Kesselhaut

Herrontown Road