| Recycling Food Waste |
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| Written by Ronnie Mae Eastling | |
| Wednesday, 01 July 2009 | |
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Did your mother ever tell you not to waste food? Or that you could be a member of the ‘clean plate club’ if you ate all of your vegetables?? Well, whatever her reasoning was, she was on to something … Did you know that Americans throw away an average of 1.3 pounds of food waste per person per day?! That equals approximately 474.5 pounds per person per year. Studies done for the year 2000 showed that food scraps accounted for 11.2% of landfill weight, which equates to about 25.9 MILLION tons of food waste! Food waste is the third largest component of waste in this country. At this point in the human story, landfills are inevitable. Many of them are near full and are a huge threat to our environment. Isn’t it a crying shame that a lot of the problem is just food scraps? Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to remedy this problem??? Well, it’s our lucky day, because there is...COMPOSTING FOOD WASTE!Composting food waste is basically recycling food. The waste is naturally broken down into nutrient rich material that can then be used in gardens, to help with erosion, etc. Composting reduces the amount of waste in the landfills, which reduces the amount of methane gas produced by these landfills. (One metric dry ton of food creates 1/4 metric ton of methane in the first 120 days) The end product of compost can help decrease plant disease and pests and can replace the need for chemical fertilizers in gardens, thus growing lovely new plants. In November of 2007, a City Ordinance was passed to require the large grocery stores, colleges, and restaurants in Duluth to compost their food waste. About 150 businesses were affected. Amazing Grace is not large enough of an business to fall into that 150, but we have decided that it is time to step up to the plate and do our part. We now compost all of our food waste in the preparing of the food served here, and are trying to educate our patrons to do the same in our dining area. You will notice that there are several types of waste reciprocals in the place… do not be nervous… it is really quite simple. There is one Food Waste bin (labeled, next to the bus tubs), 2 regular trash cans, and 2 recycle bins. We have made the commitment to using biodegradable to-go products, so the things that should go in the Food Waste bin are: food scraps, all Amazing Grace to-go cups, straws, and napkins (small amounts of this thin paper is ok). No Black plastic lids for to-go coffee cups, they should be put into the recycle bin, along with all other recyclables. If you are having trouble, just ask one of the staff or put it all into the bus tubs and we’ll sort it out for you! We are really excited and proud of this step to become a more sustainable business. We hope that this will inspire you to perhaps do the same in your home or business. If you have questions, I would suggest visiting www.wlssd.com to learn of how to compost and where to bring it in town. As always, we welcome any comments and/or suggestions on how this could run smoother from the customers point of view. Let’s redefine the ‘clean plate club!’ ~Ronnie Eastling, manager/buyer |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 01 July 2009 ) |
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