South Bay : Cemetery Clippings Get a Second Life
The peaceful souls at Inglewood Park Cemetery are pushing up more than daisies.
Each month, the 350-acre cemetery generates between 30 and 60 tons of grass, tree and shrubbery clippings. The green waste has all but buried the groundskeepers, said Daniel Villa, operation manager.
“We thought of composting, but we thought the smell might offend our neighbors,” Villa said. “It was just a shame that every month we were throwing away so much greenery.”
A pilot program begun by the city of Inglewood has offered a solution. The so-called “Greenwaste Program” has allowed the 90-year-old cemetery to ship its clippings to the Western Waste Corp. for recycling.
In exchange, the cemetery gets a break on its waste disposal bill, which could total $11,000 this year. Villa said the program has given life to other recycling projects at the burial ground, including the collection of aluminum cans by the dozen groundskeepers.
“The guys are really into it,” Villa said. “You could say we’re creating new life from a cemetery.”
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