A composting site is opening next week in Bowling Green.
The city’s sustainability coordinator, Amanda Gamby, updated council on the plans for the pilot
composting program, which is set to start on Friday.
At Monday’s council meeting, Gamby said that the public works crews have poured a concrete pad at the
site, and are to install a U-shaped fence to corral the composting receptacle bins so that they won’t
blow away. The company that the city is partnering with, Go Zero, is expected to deliver those bins on
Wednesday.
Gamby said there’s been “a lot of excitement that was mounting” for the program, and they have started
giving away 350 household compost buckets purchased for the launch. As of Monday, she said that 200 of
the buckets have been reserved and half of them had already been picked up.
“It’s been great,” Gamby said. “There’s been some interaction again, which we haven’t been able to have a
who lot of this past year.”
She said she’s been asked whether a certain demographic of residents has been interested in the program.

“It’s very cool,” Gamby said. “Members from all across the community for different reasons, from
different demographics, are all excited and it’s pretty refreshing to see that.”
She did note that “I’m actually seeing a lot of young families.”
When the program starts, she said the city will be monitoring how many of the collection receptacles will
be needed; there will be six starting out, but they can go as low as four or as high as 12 if need be.

“We are not held into a contract with them,” Gamby said of Go Zero, “we are billed monthly,” meaning the
city can continue or discontinue as they wish. The city will also be monitoring things like tonnage
collected, contamination issues, and potential rodent and odor problems.
Also at Monday’s meeting, Mayor Mike Aspacher also discussed the possibility of monies coming to the city
via the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan bill, which as recently passed by congress and signed into
law.
He said that while over $5 billion from that bill is headed to Ohio municipalities, and while some may
have seen preliminary estimates on the amount BG might receive, the city is holding off on making an
announcement until they hear from the U.S. Treasury Department. Aspacher said the amount has not been
finalized and the treasury department is expected to release guidance soon.
“As we saw with last year’s CARES Act funding, initial guidance differed significantly from the final
product,” he said. “I’m excited by the opportunity that this allocation represents and opportunity for
recovery for our community.”