Town Meeting proves fertile ground for teens’ composting push
“I trust these kids to know what the world needs, because they’re going to have to live in it, too.”
Faced with dueling proposals, voters sided with the kids.
A group of Acton-Carlisle High School students want the town to research the possibility of a new composting program.
Town staff and elected officials sounded alarms about what Public Works Director Alan Cathcart called an “unfunded mandate” that could overburden municipal workers.
Voters weren’t swayed.
“It feels amazing,” CCHS Sunrise Movement Club President Iliana Benson told The Acton Bridge after residents backed the proposal she and her classmates had advanced. “We’ve all worked really hard on this.”
The measure was the last item up for discussion on the third and final night of this year’s Annual Town Meeting. The April 29 session took place after the May 1 print edition of The Bridge went to press.
That evening, voters also approved a zoning change that could let developers lower their minimum parking requirements through “joint” arrangements.
‘The work’s not over’
The composting article urges the Select Board to ask Town Manager Kerry Lafleur to investigate the feasibility of a town-run composting program that residents could pay to join.
The non-binding resolution doesn’t require officials to proceed but serves as a political nudge from residents.
School Committee member Michael Williams congratulated Benson but reminded her, “The work’s not over yet.”
If leaders launch an informal feasibility study, Acton would still face a decision on whether to get involved in curbside composting.
Acton Public Works has been busy in recent years rolling out several initiatives. Cathcart previously mentioned that the 2027 fiscal year budget has no increase in CPW staffing that could cover extra composting work.
He was “exactly right,” resident David Allen told The Bridge. “We cannot further burden the staff.” Allen still voted in favor.
Although the resolution asked to assign this to the town manager, Select Board member Paul Boehm suggested the panel could delegate it to a committee. The Climate Action Committee, which formally endorsed the petition, would be a “logical” choice, he said.
Finance Committee members said they’d also be willing to help check the numbers.
“The student involvement shouldn’t end with this,” Boehm added. “We need to get them engaged.”
Roughly 10% of Acton households currently pay for private compost pickup, almost entirely via North Shore-based Black Earth Compost.
Sunrise Club members want to increase Acton’s uptake. Landfills are running out of room, students warn. Diverting food waste could save the town money on drop-off fees and cut carbon emissions that occur when scraps go to landfills, the students said.
Current Acton Black Earth subscribers pay $16.99 per month, per the company website. Student advocates point to other communities partnering with Black Earth and say Acton could get a discount by negotiating a “preferred vendor agreement.”
Benson faced questions during public hearings this spring as she tried to win support.
‘A feel-good vote’
Officials generally said they supported composting, but some questioned whether the town should get involved.
“This is a feel-good vote,” Public Works Commission Chair Andrea Solomon said at Town Meeting — adding that since “there is absolutely no funding with this article,” voters would have to approve a budget to support it.
Students adjusted their motion in response to pre-Town Meeting questions. The Select Board advanced an alternative on the floor, but it didn’t win voter support.
In a town that also approved a solar energy resolution during this year’s citizen legislative session, several speakers voiced worries about how younger generations will handle a warming world.
“I trust these kids to know what the world needs,” voter Gwendolyn Humphreys said, “because they’re going to have to live in it, too.”
What’s next?
The Select Board is scheduled to meet on May 18. “We’re going to have to move that forward,” Boehm said of the students’ request.
Following the Sunrise Club’s Town Meeting win, Benson worked through a line of well-wishers.
Faculty adviser Rebecca Meeks stood nearby and answered Williams’ caveat that the work wouldn’t stop with the vote.
“We know,” Meeks said. “We’re going to take the momentum from tonight.”
