Officials in the city of Fairfax are helping save the planet by composting their leftovers and garbage instead of throwing it away. Their new program allows residents to turn their trash into treasure.

“We just opened a composting center where residents and people that work in the city of Fairfax can drop off their food scraps. It is open 24 hours a day and they can drop off their scraps here. It will be picked up weekly by a composting contractor,” said Stefanie Kupka, the sustainability coordinator.

Kupka says about 25% of their residential waste is organic material that can be composted and you can compost practically anything you eat.

“Pretty much if you can eat it, you can compost it. We can compost fruits, vegetables, meats, bones, cheese, pasta, any kind of leftovers and even food soiled paper items such as napkins or paper plates. Even those greasy pizza boxes,” said Kupka.