Barbara Lawlor, Nederland. It was an “only in Ned” moment.

As residents entered the Boulder County Transfer Station on Ridge Road, bringing in their garbage and recyclables, they were greeted with live entertainment, grilled burgers, corn on the cob, and free counter compost bins.

It was a party.

Darla Arians, Division Manager of the Boulder County Resource Conservation Division was at the site on Saturday to welcome visitors and introduce them to the new compost site, the first provided by Boulder County. The new service is part of the 2005 Boulder County Commissioner’s Zero Waste Resolution. For the past three years the County has been implementing the resolution and extending its goal. “When we put the proposal out to bid, it was too expensive,” says Arians. “But then we received a $10,000 grant for the trailer and we use our own truck and driver to make it available. This is our first site in the County and we think it is the start of something big, including electronics recycling, making it a true zero waste site.”

Local resident Bonnie Greenwood arrived with a compostable bag of compost material, happy to be the first person to try out the new facility. She said, “This makes it very convenient, a one-stop drop-off for all our trash.”

Setting the atmosphere for the event, Oliver Vernon, Allison Hardt-Zeman, and Doug Armitage played a bit of bluegrass and then Hayley Turner and Hattie and Scott Bakke sang some new and old songs to celebrate the event.

Kitchen scraps and yard trimming, including pits and seeds, bones and dairy products, eggshells, spoiled, moldy food, coffee grounds and filters, tea, potted plants, and flowers will be accepted.

Low-grade paper, tissues, paper towels and toilet paper, paper bags, greasy pizza boxes and wet or waxed cardboard, small packages, shredded paper, neon, fluorescent, goldenrod and dark paper and dark colored envelopes not recyclable due to big ink contents, are also accepted.

Bioplastics made from corn, cups, straws, lids, and compost bags made of PLA bioplastic, containers made from sugar cane are OK.

Chinet paper plates and bowls, paper cups with wax coating, Dixie cups and wax paper are not accepted. Plastic coated paper plates, cups, or other items; frozen food boxes, popcorn bags, to-go soda or coffee cups, sugar packets; liquids, milk or juice cartons; tape, soap, cotton balls or swabs, pet waste, fabric scraps or string, plastic or nylon twine or construction debris will NOT be accepted.

Fees are determined by the bag size:

1-4 gallon, $1

5-13 gallon, $2

14-33 gallon, $5

34 gallon commercial/event size, $7

Site manager David Nitsch enjoyed an afternoon of grilling the food and having a chance to talk to some new customers to the transfer station.