Austin, TX
City of Austin Requires Apartments, multifamily complexes to provide composting
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin is now the first city in Texas to require apartments and other multi-family complexes to provide composting to its residents.
The move is part of an effort by the city to reach a zero-waste goal by 2040.
It may just start as trash, though the end product is anything but.
“We started in 2009 out of my front yard with a half-ton Nissan pickup truck. Just a vague idea, a lot of naive optimism,” Break It Down owner Jeff Payne said. “What are we what are we doing with that food waste? How much value are recreating with it?”
Break It Down provides recycling and composting services to close to 1000 customers, mainly businesses like restaurants, and turns it into compost or fertilizer instead.
“We’re moving somewhere around 20 tons a day,” Payne said. “And to be honest, that’s kind of the tip of the iceberg.”
Payne says left alone, all that garbage becomes a big contributor to climate change.
“Food waste, when it goes into a landfill, doesn’t break down so well,” Payne said. “It’s going to tend to generate methane, which is a greenhouse gas.”
That’s why the city of Austin is now requiring multi-family complexes like apartments to provide composting services as of October 1st.
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“We can take those to composting facilities, where they are turned into nutrient-rich compost, which then can be redirected back into our communities.” Paul Bestgen with Austin Resource Recovery said.
Bestgen says composting is nothing new since it’s already offered for single-family homes and required for restaurants. But he says currently, the city is only at 40-percent landfill diversion of its 90-percent goal by 2040.
“… and so we need to be able to find different ways to get that number to move up,” Bestgen said.
Complexes which also include nursing homes and condos will have a year to comply.
“Our goal is to answer their questions, and help them overcome any obstacles that they are facing so that they can add this collection service for their residents,” Bestgen said.
But he recognizes it’ll also be a culture shift for residents too.
“You can start small,” Bestgen said. “You can start by just composting, maybe your apple cores or a banana peel.”
Payne says composting is just one small step for the home, with a big impact on the planet.
“I really only need to take the trash out once a week, and that keeps it simple,” Payne said. “And my trash can never stinks, so that’s nice.”
For a guide on what you can and can’t compost, the city has created a website here.
Austin, TX
Body found in same Austin lake where 6 other deceased individuals were found in 2024
Another body was found in the popular Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas, where other deceased individuals were found recently.
The latest body found joins the growing mystery after at least 6 additional bodies were found throughout the year in the lake in 2024. On Friday, police were called to investigate reports of a dead person in the water near 1st Street Bridge and the 300 block of Cesar Chavez.
The Austin Police Department (APD) said that they do not suspect foul play as the body showed no signs of trauma, but are investigating the incident.
Despite APD attempting to quell community fears, questions and speculation have run rampant. Police have attributed most of the deaths to accidental drowning due to the lake’s proximity to nightclubs and bars.
BODY FOUND IN SAME AUSTIN LAKE WHERE OTHER DECEASED INDIVIDUALS DISCOVERED IN RECENT MONTHS
The most recent body was found on December 1. The victim was recently identified as 73-year-old Thi Lang Nguyen. Austin police said that there is nothing connected to the other deaths this year.
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In September, a man was behaving erratically near East Cesar Chavez and Nueces Streets. He then went into the water and did not resurface. He was later pulled out and pronounced dead.
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Back in February, a woman’s body was found in the water about 20 feet from the north shore and in April, a fisherman spotted another person floating in the water.
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In July, a man was suffering from blunt force trauma on the trail near Rainey Street. The man was pronounced dead a short time later.
In September, a body was found along a trail near the lake off Pleasant Valley Road.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the APD for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Austin, TX
Born and Braised Food Trailer Lands in East Austin – Texas is Life
Born and Braised, a food trailer specializing in native wild game meats and seasonal food, recently opened at the Sign Bar in Austin at 9909 FM 969, Building 3. Chef and owner William Woodland, a.k.a. Woody, is looking forward to his new venture and serving wild game meats and other special menu items to Austinites.
Menu items customers will enjoy includes birria tacos, birria ramen, venison frito pie, pulled pork Cubano tortas, venison bratwurst, venison smash burger, and sides like braised greens, beans, and street corn.
Born and Braised started at Lustre Pearl in 2022. The food trailer moved to Sage Brush for over a year. The trailer worked at Bastrop, but now it operates in East Austin at the Sign Bar.
Born and Braised hours include Tuesdays through Fridays from 4 pm to 2 am, and Saturdays from 11 am to 2 am, at Sign Bar Austin (9909 FM 969, Bldg. 3).
Vitals
- Address: 9909 FM 969, Bldg. 3, Austin, TX
- Website: https://bornandbraisedatx.square.site/
Map to Born and Braised
Featured image from Born and Braised Instagram page
Austin, TX
DANNY TANTRUM defecates and consumes it on stage during set at Coral Snake in Austin, TX
Texas-based noise artist Danny Tantrum performed in Austin, TX at the Coral Snake last night alongside Schizing Out and Terminull. However their onstage antics may have rubbed the venue and some attendees the wrong way. During the performance, Tantrum appears to perch themselves up on a stool and proceed to channel their inner GG Allin.
Attendees and venue staff were shocked to witness the solo noise act defecate on the stage and then immediately consume it. There is also a video of the act on Instagram (below) posted by Tantrum. In the video venue staff can be seen trying to somewhat intervene to stop it but to no avail. Finally calling for the set to be cut short.
If you dare, you can watch the video via Instagram Reels if the embed below does not work.
This is seemingly not the first time Tantrum has performed this act, a previous video on their Instagram features a similar shocking performance from several months ago.
Following the incident there seems to be a divide and discourse online either condemning or defending the act.
The venue itself re-shared a message directed at all other Austin venues warning them about booking Tantrum and the extreme show.
The venue shut the show down and forced the act and other members of the crowd to clean up the mess with cleaning supplies. Tantrum would ultimately take responsibility and clean the mess up himself and claim there were no bad intentions towards the venue.
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