Word out of Oregon is that Marion County is considering composting all of its food waste. To which I say: go for it!
I drove through that very county on my recent West Coast trip and if that stretch of Highway 5 is any indication…Fine, I couldn’t tell anything from the road, but I think all counties should promote or pursue composting.
It’s high time we keep food out of landfills and get those nutrients back into the soil via composting.
The article featured some interesting numbers, including: a fifth (20 percent) of the county’s garbage consisted of food. It’s hard to say whether this is before or after factoring in recycling, but either way, it’s higher than the U.S. averages of 12 (before recycling) and 18 percent (after recycling is factored in).
Also, we learned that the county produces 52,000 tons of food waste per year. Given that Marion County has a population of 306,665, that means 339 pounds per person per year. In other words: Each person wastes about a pound of food per day.
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