I read a very interesting story today about a new type of recycling that’s hitting Silicon Vally — food scrap recycling.

Many residents of San Carlos, California will now have the opportunity to recycle food scraps like corn cobs, tea bags, pizza boxes, meat and bones once a week.

The new program is called Feed the Pail Feed the Planet.

Right now the program is only available to residents living in single family homes in San Carlos, but other cities in the area might begin food scrap recycling by 2011.

The South Bayside Waste Management Authority ends up composting the scraps instead of dumping them in the landfill. This is supposed to cut down on the amount of trash going into landfills, and reduce the methane gas that is produced at such landfills.

The compost that is made will be sold back to residents in the community.

I think this program sounds nice, but unnecessary. You can easily do your own composting — for free! You don’t have to pay extra for the collection or for the compost later. If you do decide to compost on your own, do NOT put meat, meat products or dairy products in your pile.