food waste, partner spotlight & events
Composting is a Community Solution
By Nick Riordan, Yarducopia Program Coordinator, Alaska Community Action on Toxics
Today is National Composting Day, which is a great opportunity to talk about the huge role composting plays in building stronger, more sustainable food systems here in Alaska.
Food waste is one of the largest categories of materials in U.S. landfills, and Alaska is no exception. In Anchorage alone, food scraps make up an estimated 18 percent of the material going into our landfill each year—that’s around 59,400 tons of wasted food. When organics like food and yard waste end up in landfills, they decompose without oxygen, releasing methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. Globally, food waste contributes about 6 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, which would make it the third-largest emitter in the world if it were a country.
However, food waste is also a powerful opportunity. By composting food scraps and other organics, we can cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than half. We can return nutrients to our soil, improve food security, and extend the life of our landfills. Composting turns waste into a resource, and in a place like Alaska, where soil health, food transportation, and waste disposal all come with unique challenges, that kind of transformation is priceless.
At Alaska Community Action on Toxics, we’re working to make composting accessible and community-driven. Through our food scrap and leaf drop-off program, we host three composting sites in Anchorage: the Midtown Garden Depot, Spenard Community Garden, and my home on Williams Street. These sites are open from spring through fall and accept food scraps, leaves, and pesticide-free yard waste. We provide leaves and wood chips on-site to help folks mix and cover what they bring, and we’re happy to give demos if you’re just getting started.
We also organize regular composting work parties at the Midtown Garden Depot and other composting sites. These informal gatherings are a hands-on way to learn, share, and contribute to community composting. If you’re interested in building skills or just want to help make more compost for local gardens, we’d love to have you join us. Check out our Currant Affairs calendar of events for an up-to-date schedule.
Beyond our current drop-off locations, we’re looking for more residents who want to host collection spots or help expand our efforts. Interested hosts should jump on Make Soil or Peel and add their houses to the app’s interactive map of compost sites.
We’re also exploring new ideas, like curbside organics pickup by bike and using commercial food scraps to feed local chickens. These and other ideas highlight how composting doesn’t have to be high-tech to be effective. It just needs community participation.
But composting is just one part of a bigger conversation. At the Alaska Food Policy Council, there’s a Food Waste Working Group focused on how we can prevent food waste across the state. From feeding people first, to feeding animals, to composting, the group is working to educate, coordinate, and grow the movement to reduce waste and support our food system.
Alaska communities are already showing what’s possible. In 2024, Anchorage’s Solid Waste Services diverted 654 tons of food and yard waste from their landfill to Palmer for composting. In Soldotna, Cook Inletkeeper has helped divert tens of thousands of pounds of food scraps for composting and animal feed. The Petersburg Indian Association is combining fish waste and wood chips into compost with a dedicated machine. In Juneau, curbside collection programs have diverted over a million pounds of organics. These local efforts keep valuable resources in our communities and out of landfills.
And for those ready to get started at home, the UAF Cooperative Extension Service has excellent free publications on composting methods that work in Alaska’s unique climate. Whether you have a big backyard or just a corner for a bucket, there’s a way to participate.
Today, on National Composting Day, I hope you’ll consider how you can be part of this work. Whether that means dropping off your food scraps, volunteering at a compost site, or just starting a pile in your backyard, every little bit helps.
Together, we can turn waste into nourishment, problems into solutions, and food scraps into a better future for Alaska.
Got questions or ideas? Call our Compost Hotline at 907-717-4392, email garden@akaction.org, or visit www.akaction.org/yarducopia. We’re always happy to help.
