Dear Gripe Vine Reader:
It’s another year! Can you believe it? In West Haven we have current pressing issues not quite solved yet and new problems awaiting answers. This gripe came in last week:
Dear Eleanore Turkington:
I have been a West Haven resident for many years and have been part of its ups and downs. One of these days I am going to sit down and write you a letter containing mostly down problems with West Haven, but today I am going to single out a most recent one, the new “save food scraps”.
Back in November, the population of West Haven was asked to participate in a program designed to save left over food scraps from our meals. Our population was notified of this program and what it entails. Sorry, I missed some of the details, but I have a gripe about this program.
First, those of us who have dogs, have a problem with putting food scraps in a container. Believe me, dogs have a way of finding even the tiniest of left-over meals. This is a real hassle, cleaning up after this, regardless of my saving left over food in a container under the sink.
As far as I’m concerned this is not a healthy, sanitary duty for the the general population. It’s unsanitary, messy, and not welcome at all.
My suggestion if the city is going to participate in such a program, do it on a small scale, with a list of volunteer neighborhoods.
These days we are participating in a recycling program and now this… Enough!
Local Resident
Dear Local Resident:
Additional research into this program brought the concept and its installation to West Haven brought a number of interesting concepts to light.
The city announced its first food scrap concept back in October of 2022. According to Mayor Nancy Rossi the program will allow all single family homes , one, two and three families, to easily separate food scraps and have them collected at the curb in the same container now used for residents trash collections.
West Haven and 15 other communities received a Sustainable Materials Management grant from the State Department of energy and Environmental Protection to develop and start food-to-clean programs. It has been noted that Connecticut has a solid waste disposal crisis The traditional options of disposing of municipal waste are diminishing and becoming more expensive.
West Haven has been funded a $1.3 million DEEP SNN grant to launch a 9-month pilot program. There will be 16,000 eligible households able to participate in this effort.
So, readers there are some of the basic facts to this program. Its 9 months long, the city is getting paid over a million dollars to participate and it might prove to be beneficial to our city.
However, there is another sight to this program, the inconvenience household managers have to bear, separating the trash, odors, dogs seeking “goodies”, and the inconvenience of bagging trash separately, orange bas for trash and green bags for scraps.
Let me know readers what think of this program.
Readers, I am producing a survey on fire hydrants. Join ne if you would like to participate. I am asking my readers to let me know the various fire hydrant colors you see around the city. Just email gripevine4wh@aol.com and indicate what you have found. Or drop me a note.
Coming up…reader complains of parkers eating and smoking at Old Grove Park…..Hillcrest Avenue road deterioration…and trash pickups oversized and much more.
Send your gripes, comments and issues to gripevine4wh@aol.com or mail them to
Gripe Vine c/o West Haven Voice 840 Boston Post Road, West Haven 06516. You can also submit through our online form.
Happy New Year!