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Your neighbors are composting! You can, too
Banana peels, egg shells, coffee grounds and more go into the compost bucket on the kitchen counter at Laura Grunloh’s house. She and her husband participate in the organics composting program of the city of Columbia Heights. They collect compostable materials and deliver them to the city’s Recycling Center at 3801 Madison Street.

Laura is so committed to organics composting that she’s even involved her church, First Lutheran in Columbia Heights, in a compost program. One of the largest churches in the city with over 1,000 members, First Lutheran Church kicked off its composting effort in February. “To be good stewards of our planet’s resources, we’re are expanding our current recycling program of bottles, cans and paper to include organic materials like food waste and food-soiled paper to be composted,” said Laura. “We really hope to encourage other organizations to begin composting by sharing our story.”

Last year, households in Columbia Heights dropped off 14 tons of materials to composted instead of as trash to the landfill. “That’s a remarkable accomplishment already, and we have 200 households participating. We’d like to see even more households involved in the organics drop-off program,” said Jesse Davies, from the city’s Public Works Department.

Free organics starter kits and the required bags for disposal are available by calling the city’s Public Works Department at (763) 706-3700. Residents can take the organic composting materials they’ve collected to the city’s Recycling Center. It is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on most Saturdays but closed on holiday weekends.   Once organic materials are transformed into compost it is sold by students as a fundraiser for the Key Club at Columbia Heights High School. “This has raised over $800 so far for the club’s service activities,” said Davies. “This is a great way to close the loop.”

Columbia Heights Recognized at Anoka County Awards Ceremony

The City of Columbia Heights was recognized for recycling efforts of the local government, residents, and businesses at the annual Anoka County Recycling Awards ceremony.

Resident Jennifer Pyper-Muno was presented a Recycling Champion award for her efforts promoting the City’s organics drop-off program.

McDonald’s owner, Jeff Smith, was awarded a Business Recycling Improvement award for recycling organics at several of his Anoka County locations, including Columbia Heights.

The Columbia Heights-Fridley Kiwanis Club was recognized for their work at the City’s recycling center.

Columbia Heights was recognized for the organics drop-off program and for collaborating with Hilltop, Spring Lake Park, and Fridley on a multi-city recycling event. 

CHHS Key Club Compost Fundraiser at the Recycling Center
The Columbia Heights High School Key Club, in partnership with the Columbia Heights-Fridley Kiwanis, is hosting a fundraiser that centers on composting. 

Composting Opportunity
Jennifer Pyper-Muno has been composting yard waste and vegetable scraps in her backyard for years. So she was excited to hear that a composting program has been started by the City of Columbia Heights.

Jennifer has been a dedicated recycler for a long time so it wasn’t hard to add composting to her 
daily routine.  Now, her family fills a 5-gallon compost container each week, which they take to the city’s recycling center on Saturdays. Her container weighs about 10 pounds so by filling it every week, the family is diverting over 500 pounds from the trash each year.

They’re one of 128 households participating in the city’s composting program so far.  She hopes the program continues to grow. “I wish more people would realize how easy it is to do,” she said. “We could have a major impact.” For more information or to receive a free composting starter kit, please call the Public Works Department at (763) 706-3700.

Businesses Can Receive Grants to Improve Recycling

Grants up to $10,000 are available to individual businesses in Columbia Heights to help offset the costs associated with starting new recycling projects. This Anoka County grant program is providing the extra incentive that many businesses need to make the decision to improve their recycling and reduce waste.

McDonald’s in Columbia Heights is one such business that has been able to make recycling improvements. Owner Jeff Smith decided to begin recycling large amounts of food and food-soiled paper waste from their daily operations. By beginning an organics recycling program, this McDonald’s location is now turning an estimated 31,200 pounds of food and paper waste into nutrient-rich compost. This compost can be sold as soil amendment helping to create jobs locally and reduce soil erosion. 

The Minnesota Waste Wise Foundation is the first point of contact for businesses interested in participating in the Anoka County Business Recycling Grant Program. In 2015, Waste Wise helped over 20 businesses in Anoka County implement recycling endeavors that will result in over 700,000 pounds of recyclable material being diverted from landfills or waste processing every year. If your business is interested in improving recycling, contact Jon Klapperich at (651) 292-4662 or jklapperich@mnchamber.com.


Apartment Owner Promotes Recycling
Michelle Ferreira has begun a recycling effort that could serve as a model for other multi-dwellings in Columbia Heights.

Her tenants now sign a lease that requires them to recycle in the seven-unit building on Central Avenue. Michelle makes it easy for them by supplying blue recycling totes that are provided by the City through a grant. She instructs them on how to recycle and overall her tenants have made a big difference in what the building throws away.

The apartment’s huge dumpster has been replaced with two recycling carts and two garbage carts that are equally filled each week.

In the shared laundry room, she’s put bins out to collect plastic bags, which she recycles at Cub Foods. She also gathers used batteries and light bulbs from tenants and takes them to the Anoka County drop off recycling center. While there, she selects cleaning supplies which are given away for free and she shares them with her tenants.

Michelle also promotes the reuse concept. If tenants have items they no longer want, they can leave them in the laundry room for others to take.

The cost to dispose of garbage has increased significantly in Anoka County, so recycling saves the cost of sending tons of solid waste to a landfill.

Owners/Managers of multi-dwellings are encouraged to order additional recycling containers (for no additional cost) and inform tenants of the increased recycling opportunity.

The carts have labels on top of the lids describing what can be recycled. Call the Public Works Department at (763) 706- 3700 to request recycling information (in multiple languages) and totes tenants can use to collect and carry materials to the outside recycling cart.  

Recycling Tips

  • Take household and garage metal items to the Columbia Heights Recycling Center.  Deposit items in the scrap metal bin for no charge.  This includes items such as chairs, tables, lamps, stands, pots, pans, grills, plant hangers, rods, buckets, tools, fencing and yard equipment.
  • Reduce solid waste disposal by selling or donating household goods, furniture, and mattresses.  There are also specialized recycling companies that will deconstruct and recycle various components of these items.