BRUNSWICK

Ed and Claudia Knox of Brunswick try to make sure their food is fresh and locally grown. But like anyone, they generate their fair share of food waste.

“I do always have a lot of fresh food garbage — the trimmings and peelings of vegetables and fruit,” Claudia Knox said in an interview on Friday.

Thanks to an expansion by Portland-based We Compost It! into Brunswick, those scraps no longer go to waste. WCI began curbside collection of compost in early March, according to the company’s general manager, Brett Richardson.

About 40 households have signed on to the program, said Richardson.

“You’re helping the environment, you’re saving on green bags and reducing waste,” he said. “And you’re getting compost back.”

Nearly anything that was once alive can be composted into fertilizer, including left- over vegetable trimmings, coffee grounds, fruit rinds, bones and meat, according to WCI.

“I think it’s a matter of changing habits. It was a little challenging the first week, because I’m in the habit of putting stuff in the garbage, and I would fish it out and put it in the appropriate bucket,” said Claudia Knox.

WCI provides buckets and lids to Brunswick participants to fill which are picked up curbside Saturday mornings. WCI delivers those buckets to its facility where it transforms the organic material into nutrient-rich compost. The compost will be used by local gardeners and landscapers to grow food and flowers. Compost is also donated to schools in southern Maine.

Resident subscribers are also given a bucket’s worth of compost to kickstart the spring growing season.

Knox said she welcomes the compost because she has a flower garden where she grows perennials, and making her own compost wasn’t an option.

“I live on a relatively small in-town lot. And downtown Brunswick is full of wildlife — we’re talking skunks, possums, racoons and beyond. So I don’t compost in my yard,” Knox said. “Here’s this service that lets me put all that stuff out to be well and truly recycled.”

Susan Savell and Dory Cote, residential partners in Brunswick, were the first residents to subscribe to WCI’s service.

“It will help us honor our commitment to sustainability practices and recycling more fully,” the two said in a WCI press release.

A curbside pickup program is also available in Kennebunk.

According to WCI, Maine households currently throw away up to 40 percent of their food on average, and organic materials comprise more than 35 percent of the average household’s total waste stream.

Household kitchen scraps consume valuable and expensive landfill space, and curbside compost collection programs are taking root nationwide to expand recycling programs.

“Composting is a great way to divert organic waste from Brunswick’s landfill, where it decomposes anaerobically, emitting methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. This is a great service for folks who would like to compost but don’t have the time or the space to do it. It’s less than $11/month when you sign up for a year, and you’ll get some of that back, since you’ll be spending less on green bags,” said Alex Anesko, chairman of the Brunswick Recycling and Sustainability Committee, in a statement.

High levels of ammonia at the Graham Road landfill prompted town officials to explore closing the facility last year.

“I’m very aware of the short life expectancy of Brunswick’s landfill,” said Knox. “I very well expect it to be capped, and we’re going to find the next, other option.”

The company is in talks with the Brunswick Topsham Land Trust about forming a partnership that will involve the Tom Settlemire Community Garden, said Richardson,

WCI also serves Mid Coast Hospital in addition to almost 100 other partners in eight communities between Biddeford and Auburn.

Visit www.wecompostit.com for more information, including how to sign up.

WE COMPOST IT! provides buckets and lids to Brunswick participants to fill which are picked up curbside Saturday mornings. WCI delivers those buckets to its facility where it transforms the organic material into nutrient-rich compost. The compost will be used by local gardeners and landscapers to grow food and flowers. Compost is also donated to schools in southern Maine.