About Town: Downtown Bellevue Condominium Experiments With Compost

Mark Van Hollenbeke hopes his green idea will take root in other multi-family buildings. Van Hollenbeke, who lives in the McKee Condominiums on Bellevue’s Old Main Street, planted the idea of adding compost collection bins to the trash disposal choices in his complex in January or February of this year. He nourished it with meetings, phone calls, and a just stick-to-it attitude.

The experimental project between his condo complex and Allied Waste, Multi-family Organized Recycling and Education (M.O.R.E.), began in mid-July. Fifteen families in the 100-unit building signed up to participate in the 90-day pilot. The joint operation between Allied Waste and the McKee Condominiums appears to be a success already, at least for Van Hollenbeke and his wife.

“We recycle religiously now,” he said.

Their composting – the small green garbage or food waste bin familiar to most single family residents in Bellevue – needs to be emptied every fifth or sixth day. The regular trash rarely goes out, maybe once every nine or ten days, Van Hollenbeke said. Their regular recycling bin needs emptying every fourth day or so.

Van Hollenbeke has been into recycling and composting since he was in college in 1991.  

“That’s when I realized there’s no such thing as ‘away.’ You can’t throw something away. Everything goes somewhere,” he said.

He lived in the Magnolia area of Seattle and was able to set up a compost bin in his yard. But life in a condo or apartment isn’t compost-friendly. Most multi-family buildings in Bellevue offer only two choices – recycling and trash.

Early this year, Van Hollenbeke read that Bellevue City Councilmember Jennifer Robertson encouraged environmental stewardship. A few days later he saw Robertson at a Bellevue Parks Board meeting – Van Hollenbeke is a member of the Park Board and commented that he was frustrated about not having the green waste recycling option. Robertson connected Van Hollenbeke with folks at Allied Waste. He began discussions and plans for an experimental program. He presented the program to the McKee building homeowners association.

“I was tenacious enough not to let the idea go,” he said. “I checked in with Anne Laughlin, the community relations manager at Allied Waste, every week or so.”

Recycling, he pointed out to everyone, was already successful. One issue was weight of the garbage containers because many of the residents were elderly. But everyone felt the 1 ½ gallon in-home garbage containers with the carbon filters on top were manageable. It would be the janitorial staff who would move around the bigger yard waste bins. Another argument against the idea was the smells.

For the pilot program Laughlin rounded up bio bags large enough to fit in the 96 gallon yard waste bins and the families who initially signed up for the program were given a few bio bags for their 1 ½ gallon garbage cans.

“We need a champion on site like Mark to make these programs really successful,” said Laughlin.  “Mark’s enthusiasm is what makes it work.”

Van Hollenbeke isn’t in it for the glory but for the good. After nearly two months into the program, he considers it a success.

“We’ve been able to address problems quickly,” he said. “Most importantly, Allied Waste remains a dedicated partner, committed to making sure this program works well at the McKee so that it can be used as a model to export to condos and apartments around King County.”

The number one challenge has been educating all residents about garbage and recycling dos-and-don’ts. New signage, with pictures of what goes where, is expected to help. The other challenge is encouraging participants to use a bio bag and tie it shut before dumping it in the green compost bin.

“We’ve also started buying the smaller compostable bags in bulk and making them available to residents,” Van Hollenbeke said. “Personally I’m taking few trips to the garbage area than I was before we started the program which is nice.”