Overcoming the 'Ick' Factor in Urban Composting

When New York officials announced a plan for a citywide composting program a couple weeks ago, much of the negative response could be summarized with the word ick. The idea of rotting food scraps smelling up the city and attracting insects and rodents along the way didn't sit well with everyone. One building superintendent told the Daily Beast that getting residents to separate out their leftovers would be a "nearly impossible" task.

Notwithstanding a natural human resentment for more work, the fact that many other major U.S. cities have adopted composting programs shows just how possible the task can be. San Francisco, for instance, now claims to divert 80 percent of its waste from landfills through mandatory recycling and composting initiatives — despite initially hearing the same complaints that are circling New York.