Larry's Market Digs Composting -- Withered Flowers, Rotting Veggies Recycled For Use In Landscaping

KIRKLAND

Recycling is definitely "in" in the '90s.

And Larry's Market, the Seattle-based chain, has taken the concept to a new level.

The markets have the usual environmental touches - recycling bins for glass, plastic and paper behind the counters.

But while some markets toss old vegetables and withered flowers into the trash, Larry's has an unusual type of recycling bin behind its stores: collectors of items for composting.

Some of the material goes into an herb garden and a small apple orchard right next to the Larry's Totem Lake store in Kirkland. Three small compost bins are on display in the garden.

The orchard produces 17 varieties of apple, which are donated to a local community group.

All materials used in the garden and orchard are organic, said Christine Schoener, gardener for Larry's five stores.

Since late last year, Larry's has gone ballistic on recycling and composting, with each store producing about two tons of compostable waste each week.

The waste is shipped to Iddings Inc. in Kent, where it is mixed with soil, yard waste and organic material to make a rich mixture that can be used as topsoil. The process takes about four months.

Completing an `ecological loop,' Larry's has recently begun using that topsoil in its landscaping.

Using the same byproduct it creates, the project is "one of the first of its kind in the country," said Brant Rogers, environmental-affairs manager for Larry's.

At each of its stores - Oak Tree Village, Roxbury, Totem Lake, Bellevue and Pacific Highway South - Larry's avoids chemical insect repellants and recycles everything from paper to plastic.

The composting project, regarded by Larry's as the highlight of its recycling program, was started with an investment of $200.

That bought a few extra recycling cans, and the chain re-used most of its dumpsters as compost bins. The composting is expected to divert more than 200 tons of waste produce and faded flowers away from landfills.

"If you compost it, it doesn't end up in landfill," Rogers said. That's especially important these days, as landfills around Seattle are becoming filled and some people say there won't be any more landfill space in a few years. By recycling and composting, Larry's does more than help the environment. It saves itself money in garbage bills.

Larry's has a definite target goal. Rogers said Larry's goal is to cut its 1991 garbage bill of $220,000 to $170,000 in 1992.

"What we are trying to do is put as little as possible into the garbage, because that's the savings," Rogers said. He said the savings so far is about 25 percent. "We intend to reduce that even more," Rogers said, adding that garbage rates went up 34 percent this year.

As thousands of homeowners have learned in the last few years, recycling takes more time than tossing everything into the trash. That means that Larry's recycling/composting project depends on cooperation of all employees. "People have to take extra time, but it's worth it," Rogers said.

Barry Merritt, receiving clerk at the Oak Tree Larry's, said he agrees. He's has been working for Larry's for 12 years - and at the Oak Tree market since it opened six years ago.

Merritt said composting has "made the biggest difference." Before, the trash compactor had to be emptied twice a week. Now, it is emptied less than once a week. "The less that goes in there," he said, pointing to the trash compactor, "the happier we are." Larry's has found that composting has other side benefits, especially this year.

Instead of washing waste produce down a sink's garbage disposal, using thousands of gallons of water, Larry's just tosses it into recycling bins.

"This is one of the ways we respond to the changes of the water crisis," said Vern Grasdock, assistant produce manager.