It was big news in Philadelphia last week: shocked onlookers captured camera phone footage of rats running rampant at a popular Midtown Village café and uploaded it onto social networking sites. The restaurant experienced a public relations nightmare as the story quickly went viral. The café closed to fix a broken pipe that led to the infestation, but the damage had been done. Beyond the viral video, the story presents us with a larger issue: how we deal with waste – especially food waste – in large, old, dense urban spaces.
Center City’s booming Midtown Village neighborhood is Exhibit A. Over the past ten years, it has seen a dramatic revival – new restaurants, bars, cafes and art galleries. But with more businesses comes more waste – and more dumpsters, odor, and rats. On some Center City blocks, up to 22 dumpsters line the sidewalk, making for an unpleasant assault on the senses. Not exactly the experience the city envisions for convention-goers.
One Midtown Village stalwart is trying to radically re-think waste collection and storage. McGillin's, the nation’s oldest Irish pub, is looking to create a “zero waste zone.” The now-vacant parking lot adjacent to McGillin’s would become “Drury Street Garden,” a centralized waste storage facility serving up to two dozen Midtown Village businesses. It would have two compactors — one for trash, one for recycling — and a large, sealed Biobin for composting kitchen waste.
Of course, the upfront costs of the “zero waste zone” are significant. While McGillin's expects the savings to pay for themselves over the course of two years, raising the money will still be a challenge. However, the status quo is unacceptable and not without its costs, according to Chris Mullins, owner of the pub, who recently spent $1,200 on an exterminator to treat his entire block.
After last week’s unfortunate PR nightmare involving another restaurateur, we have all the evidence we need that our antiquated waste collection strategy isn't working and is costing us money. Simply put, it's not sustainable. Time to get creative.
